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LIFE  OF 

Albert  R.  Parsons 

WITH  BRIEF  HISTORY  OF  THE 

Labor  Movement  in  America 

ALSO 

Sketches  of  the  Lives  of  A.  Spies,  Geo.  Engel,  A.  Fischer 

and  Louis  Lingg 


Of  what  avail  is  plow  or  sail. 
Or  land  or  life ,  if  freedom  fail ? 


SECOND  EDITION 

124- 


CHICAGO  : 

Mrs.  Lucy  E.  Parsons,  Publisher  and  Proprietor 
1777  N.  Troy  St. 

1903 


H7brj^> 

•  P, 3 


/ 


BOSTON  COLLEGE  LIBRARY 

CHESTNUT  HILL,  MASS. 


Copyright  1889 
BY 

Mrs.  Lucy  E.  Parsons 


/\UG  3  19®! 


THIS  BOOK  IS 

LOVINGLY  DEDICATED  TO  THE  SACRED  MEMORY 
OF  ONE  WHOSE  ONLY  CRIME  WAS  THAT 
HE  LIVED  IN  ADVANCE 
OF  HIS  TIME, 


Htg  Mobtir  Hfitsbmxfr,  Cmrtpixttioit,  uni r  Commfo, 

ALBERT  RICHARD  PARSONS. 


9 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Albert  R.  Parsons . Frontispiece 

Lucy  E.  Parsons . Frontispiece 

The  Boat  .  112-113 

A.  R.  Parsons  in  Disguise .  128-129 

A.  R.  Parsons  in  his  cell  on  morning  of  Nov,  11,  1887 .  232-233 

Letter  from  Parsons  to  his  children . ' .  240-211 

August  Spies .  264-265 

Adolph  Fischer  .  274-275 

George  Engel  . .  278-279 

Louis  Lingg .  282-283 

Gov.  John  P.  Altgeld .  286-287 

Samuel  Fielden  .  288-289 

Michael  Schwab .  296-297 

Oscar  Neebe  .  304-305 

Monument  erected  to  our  Comrades  in  Waldheim  Cemetery....  310-311 


CONTENTS. 


Compiler’s  Note  . VII 

History  of  Labor  Movement  in  America . IX 

History  of  Labor  Movement  in  Chicago . .. . .  .XXII 

PART  I. 

Chapter  Page 

I.  Albert  R.  Parsons’  Ancestors .  i 

II.  The  Story  of  His  Life . .  12 

PART  II. 

I.  Mr.  Parsons’  Western  Trip  Correspondence .  27 

II.  Letter  From  Topeka,  Kansas .  34 

PART  III. 

I.  Meeting  in  South  Bend,  Ind .  39 

II.  The  Lemont  Massacre. . .  47 

III.  Observing  Thanksgiving  Day . 56 

IV.  Under  the  Red  Flag .  62 

V.  An  Interesting  Interview . 65 

PART  IV. 

I.  Letter  From  Salineville,  Ohio .  69 

II.  Letter  From  the  Smoky  City .  76 

III.  In  the  Ohio  Coal  Regions, .  84 

IV.  Speech  in  Springfield,  0 .  91 

V.  Letter  to  His  Wife .  95 

PART  V. 

I.  Selected  Editorials  . . . . . 99 

PART  VI. 

I.  The  Haymarket  Meeting . 113 

II.  Parsons’  Haymarket  Speech . 116 

III.  Albert  R.  Parsons’  Speech  in  Court . 128 


vi 


CONTENTS. 


PART  VII. 

Chapter  Page 

I.  What  is  an  Accessory? . 163 

II.  Mr.  Parsons  in  Court . . 168 

III.  The  Immolation  to  Authority . 170 

IV.  Letter  From  Attorney  W.  A.  Foster . 188 

V.  The  Trial  of  the  Judgment . 192 

PART  VIII. 

I.  Reminiscences  of  Albert  R.  Parsons . 211 

II.  Mr.  Parsons  at  Geneva . 223 

III.  A  Chapter  of  History . 228 

PART  IX. 

I.  Echoes  From  His  Prison  Cell . 233 

II.  Extracts  From  His  “Appeal  to  the  People  of  America”.  .237 

III.  Last  Hours  of  Life . 243 

IV.  Arrest  of  Mrs.  Parsons  and  Children . 249 

V.  Capt.  Black’s  Eulogy  at  the  Tomb.., . 254 

Benjamin  F.  Butler’s  Letter  to  Capt  Black . 261 

APPENDIX. 

Autobiography  of  August  Spies . . . 265 

Autobiography  of  Adolph  Fischer . 275 

Autobiography  of  George  Engel . 279 

Speech  of  Louis  Lingg . 283 

Altgeld’s  Reason  for  Pardoning  Fielden,  Neebe  and  Schwab . 286 

Press  Comments  . 31 1 


COMPILER’S  NOTE. 


The  early  Christians  took  the  cross 
Upon  which  their  Savior  bled, 

And  withered  nations  now  attest 
The  terror  of  its  red. 

Let  labor  where  they  hang  her  sons 
Take  up  the  gallows  tree, 

And  bravely  bear  the  double  cross 
To  make  the  whole  world  free. 

—W.  C.  Marshall. 

In  preparing  the  Life  of  Albert  R.  Parsons  for  publication  I 
have  been  actuated  by  one  desire  alone,  viz :  That  I  might  demon¬ 
strate  to  every  one,  the  most  prejudiced  as  well  as  the  most  liberal 
minds :  First,  that  my  husband  was  no  aider,  nor  abettor,  nor  coun¬ 
sellor  of  crime  in  any  sense.  Second,  that  he  knew  nothing  of  nor 
had  anything  to  do  with  the  preparation  for  the  Haymarket  meet¬ 
ing,  and  that  the  Haymarket  meeting  was  intended  to  be  peace¬ 
able,  and  was  peaceable  until  interfered  with  by  the  police.  Third, 
that  Mr.  Parsons’  connection  with  the  labor  movement  was  purely 
and  simply  for  the  purpose  of  bettering  the  condition  of  his  fellow- 
men;  that  he  gave  his  time,  talents,  and  at  last  his  life,  to  this 
cause. 

In  order  to  make  these  facts  undeniable,  I  obtained  articles 
from  persons  holding  avowedly  adverse  views  with  his,  but  who 
were  nevertheless  willing  to  testify  to  his  innocence  of  the  crime  for 
which  he  suffered  death,  and  his  sterling  integrity  as  a  man. 

It  has  been  the  endeavor  of  the  author  to'  make  the  present 
work  not  only  biographical,  but  historical — a  work  which  might  be 
relied  upon  as  an  authority  by  all  future  writers  upon  the  matters 
contained  in  it.  Hence  nothing  has  been  admitted  to  its  pages  that 


vii 


compiler's  note. 


•  •  • 

Vlll 

is  not  absolutely  correct,  so  far  as  it  was  possible  for  me  to  verify 
it  by  close  scrutiny  of  all  matter  treated.  And  for  this  reason  I 
ask  the  public  to  read  its  pages  carefully,  for  in  this  way  they  will 
become  acquainted  with  the  inmost  thoughts  of  one  of  the  noblest 
characters  of  which  history  bears  record. 

There  is  one  man  whose  name  and  life  was  so  intimately  inter¬ 
woven  with  one  of  the  stirring  periods  of  this  country’s  history 
that  that  history  could  not  be  written  if  his  name  were  omitted.  That 
man  is  Gen.  Ulysses  S.  Grant.  His  biographers  record  no  act 
of  his  life  with  more  praise  than  the  magnanimous  manner  in 
which  he  treated  the  Rebel  General,  Lee,  when  the  latter  surren¬ 
dered  his  sword  to  him.  Suppose  Grant  had  taken  the  proffered 
sword  and  stabbed  his  antagonist  with  it?  There  would  have  been 
no  word  too  detestable  to  have  attached  to  his  name.  Albert  R. 
Parsons  surrendered  his  sword  to  the  wild  mob  of  millionaires  when 
he  walked  into  Court  and  asked  for  a  fair  trial  by  a  jury  of  his 
peers.  Yet  the  proud  State  of  Illinois  murdered  him  under  the 
guise  of  “Law  and  Order;”  foully  murdered  this  innocent  man. 
And  upon  the  heart  of  her  then  Governor  (Oglesby),  who  completed 
the  atrocity  by  ratifying  the  vile  conspiracy  conducted  by  the  wild 
howls  of  the  millionaire  rabble,  by  signing  the  death  warrants  of 
men  whom  he,  as  a  lawyer,  knew  were  innocent,  there  is  not  “ one 
damned  spot,”  but  five,  to  “out.” 

Thus  it  is  that  history  repeats  itself.  In  this  case  it  was  the  old, 
old  cry :  “Away  with  them ;  they  preach  a  strange  doctrine !  Cru¬ 
cify  them !”  But  the  grand  cause  for  which  they  perished  still  lives. 

The  Author. 

Chicago,  February  22,  1889. 


‘'The  working  classes  are  ignorant  because  they  are  poor,  and  poor  because 
they  are  robbed.” 

“The  more  you  work  the  less  you  have,  and  the  less  you  will  have  to  do.” 

— Albert  R.  Parsons. 


HISTORY  OF  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN 

AMERICA. 

By  ALBERT  R.  PARSONS. 


Holly  Lodge,  Kensington, 
London,  May  23, 1857. 

As  long  as  you  (Americans)  have  a  boundless  extent  of  fertile  and 
unoccupied  land,  your  laboring  population  will  be  far  more  at  ease  than 
the  laboring  population  of  the  old  world,  and  while  that  is  the  case  the 
Teffersonian  politics  may  continue  to  exist  without  causing  any  fatal  calam¬ 
ity.  But  the  time  will  come  when  New  England  will  be  as  thickly  peopled 
as  old  England.  Wages  will  be  low,  and  will  fluctuate  with  you  as  well  as 
with  us.  You  will  have  your  Manchesters  and  Birminghams,  and  in  those 
Manchesters  and  Birminghams  hundreds  of  thousands  of  artisans  will 
assuredly  be  sometimes  out  of  work.  Then  your  institutions  will  be  fairly 
brought  to  the  test.  Distress  everywhere  makes  the  laborer  mutinous  and 
discontented. 

*  *  *  The  day  will  come  when  in  the  state  of  New  York  there  will 
be  a  multitude  of  people,  none  of  whom  has  had  more  than  half  a  breakfast, 
or  expects  to  have  more  than  half  a  dinner.  On  one  side  is  a  statesman 
preaching  patience,  respect  for  vested  rights,  strict  observance  of  public 
faith.  On  the  other  is  a  demagogue  ranting  about  the  tyranny  of  capitalists 
and  usurers,  and  asking  why  anybody  be  permitted  to  drink  champagne 
and  ride  in  a  carriage,  while  thousands  of  honest  folks  are  in  want  of 
necessaries.  What  is  the  workingman  likely  to  do  when  he  hears  his  chil¬ 
dren  cry  for  bread  ? — Lord  Macauley. 


Capitalism — Its  Development  in  the  United  States. 

Among  all  nations,  the  United  States  of  America  has  alone  pos¬ 
sessed  the  opportunity  for  developing  representative  or  Republican 
government  to  its  utmost.  Separated  by  two  oceans,  isolated  and 
comparatively  secure  from  sudden  invasion  or  the  diplomatic  em- 
broglios  of  imperialistic  Europe  and  Asia,  the  united  capacity  of 
Republican  government  to  minister  to  the  peace  and  welfare  of 


is 


X 


CAPITALISM - ITS  DEVELOPMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


its  citizens  and  the  experience — history — of  one  hundred  years  has 
formed  the  record  from  which  the  living  present  learns  its  lesson 
of  the  past. 

Free  government,  a  free  people,  was  the  talismanic  charm  which 
caused  the  emigrant  to  abandon  the  old  world  and  hasten  to  the  new. 

The  population  of  the  colonies  in  1776 was  3,500,000.  Today  ( 1886) 
the  population  of  the  United  States  is  estimated  at  65,000,000.  The 
controlling  influence  which  impelled  the  emigrant  to  the  United 
States  was  the  belief  in  the  inducement  held  out  that  a  home  for  his 
loved  ones  could  be  acquired.  It  is,  therefore,  a  fact,  that  the 
United  States  has  been  developed  and  populated  because  of  eco¬ 
nomic  rather  than  political  influences.  It  has  been  and  is  still  the 
belief  of  many  that  the  comparative  economic  freedom  which  the 
poor  have  enjoyed  in  this  country  was  owing  to  its  political  insti¬ 
tutions,  its  republican  form  of  government.  Lord  Macauley,  whose 
prognostication  is  quoted  at  the  opening  of  this  chapter,  foresaw 
what  experience  has  since  demonstrated,  to-wit:  That  the  Re¬ 
public  itself  was  the  result,  not  the  cause  of  the  comparative  eco¬ 
nomic  liberty  which  prevailed  in  America. 

The  revolution  of  1776  was  precipitated  when  the  British  gov¬ 
ernment  sought  to  impose  “taxation  without  representation”  upon 
the  colonies,  but  there  was  a  long  antecedent  train  of  offenses  which 
the  colonists  had  endured.  The  British  nobility,  aristocrats  and 
landlords  had  been  for  years  past  engaged  in  seizing  upon  the  wild 
lands  of  America  and  subjecting  its  inhabitants  to  the  servitude 
prevailing  in  the  old  world.  A  few  noblemen  held  “patents”  from 
George  III,  which  covered  vast  regions  of  territory  and  embraced 
millions  of  acres.  The  revolution  of  1776  was  inspired  by  deter¬ 
mination  to  escape  the  tyranny  of  British  rule,  from  the  oppressions 
of  which  most  of  the  American  colonists  had  fled.  The  authors  of 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  gave  the  key-note  of  that  struggle 
when  they  proclaimed  the  inalienable  Rights  of  Man  as  the  issue 
involved.  During  the  seven  years’  war  which  followed,  and  for 
five  years  afterward  (1787)  the  inhabitants  of  the  colonies  were 
practically  without  government  or  law.  Thomas  Paine,  of  whom 
it  has  been  said  he  did  as  much  with  his  pen  as  Washington  had 


CAPITALISM — ITS  DEVELOPMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  xi 

/ 

done  with  his  sword  for  American  liberty,  describes  in  his  writings 
the  motives  and  purposes  of  the  men  engaged  in  that  conflict. 
Paine’s  work,  entitled  “Rights  of  Man,”  embodied  the  “American 
Idea”  of  liberty  as  then  contended  for.  He  says : 

It  is  therefore  a  perversion  of  terms  to  say  that  a  charter  (government) 
gives  rights.  It  operates  by  a  contrary  effect, — that  of  taking  rights  away. 
Rights  are  inherently  in  all  the  inhabitants,  but  charters,  by  annulling  those 
rights  in  the  majority,  leave  the  right  by  exclusion  in  the  hands  of  a  few. 
If  charters  were  constructed  so  as  to  express  in  direct  terms  “that  every 
inhabitant  who  is  not  a  member  of  a  corporation  shall  not  exercise  the  right 
of  voting,”  such  charters  would,  in  the  face,  be  charters,  not  of  rights, 
but  of  exclusion.  The  effect  is  the  same  under  the  form,  in  which  they 
now  stand ;  the  only  persons  on  whom  they  now  operate  are  the  persons 
whom  they  exclude. 

The  period  following  the  war,  when  the  colonies  or  states  were 
engaged  in  framing  the  national  constitution,  is  most  instructive,  as 
it  was  now  that  the  fruits  of  that  struggle  were  to  be  garnered. 
Some  of  the  states  were  slow  to  enter  the  compact  and  some  for 
a  time  refused  to  do  so,  such  was  the  fear  of  the  people  for  central¬ 
ized  government.  Finally,  a  reconciliation  was  brought  about 
mainly  by  those  whose  property  rights  gave  them  influence  and 
power,  and  delegates  from  all  the  states  were  chosen  to  the  national 
convention  to  form  the  Federal  Constitution. 

0 

Here  were  assembled  men  of  varying  ideas,  instincts  and  interests. 
But  the  predominating  influence  was  the  property  interest,  property 
in  land,  etc.,  but  especially  in  slaves.  The  people  having  struggled 
and  suffered  for  seven  long  anl  bloody  years,  were  alive  to  the  im¬ 
portance  of  the  work  of  the  convention  and  its  possible  effects  upon 
their  welfare.  But  there  were  those  who  reverenced  human  rights 
only  so  far  as  these  did  not  intrude  upon  their  property  rights.  Thus 
began  the  game  of  Politics.  The  convention  found  it  necessary  to 
conduct  their  proceedings  with  closed  doors,  excluding  from  its 
sessions  all  who  were  not  members.  Here,  for  four  months  the 
“Star  Chamber”  (secret)  sessions  were  held  in  an  endeavor  to  bring 
about  a  compromise  of  divergent  interests  and  ideas  upon  the 
property  question.  The  debates  were  long  and  heated.  At  times  the 
convention  was  threatened  with  disruption.  There  were  those  who 
believed  in  a  landed  aristocracy  and  restricted  suffrage,  led  by  Alex- 


Xll  CAPITALISM — ITS  DEVELOPMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

ander  Hamilton ;  others  wanted  free  land  and  manhood  suffrage ; 
and  still  others  contended  the  liberation  of  the  chattel  slave  was 
included  in  the  meaning  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence, — and 
vice  versa.  A  compromise  was  finally  reached  which  left  the  rights 
of  property  in  slaves,  land  and  money  intact.  The  assertion  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  that  “all  men  were  created  free  and 
equal,  and  possessed  with  certain  inalienable  rights,  among  which 
were  life,  liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness,”  was  defended  by 
those  who  favored  a  constitution  framed  in  accordance  with  the 
intent  and  spirit  of  that  document.  The  slave  holding  interest  ob¬ 
jected  and  held  that  the  blacks — the  chattel  slaves — were  not  included 
in  the  meaning  or  intent  of  the  Declaration.  John  Adams,  the  aris¬ 
tocrat,  who  also  favored  a  limited  monarchy  as  against  Jefferson, 
Franklin,  Paine,  Henry,  Washington  and  others,  in  the  memorable 
debate  upon  this  question  said :  “What  matters  it  whether  you  give 
the  food  and  clothes  to  the  slaves  direct,  or  whether  you  just  give 
him  enough  in  wages  to  purchase  the  same?”  This  view  of  the 
question  finally  prevailed  and  was  accepted  as  the  basis  of  compro¬ 
mise.  The  rights  of  property  triumphed.  The  wage-worker  was 
categorical  with  the  chattel  slave.  Indeed  the  difference  was  recog¬ 
nized  among  the  wealthy  class  as  existing  not  only  in  form  but 
identical  in  effect.  The  Constitution  as  agreed  upon  by  the  conven¬ 
tion  was  submitted  to  the  states — the  people  for  ratification  or  rejec¬ 
tion.  Though  dissatisfied,  the  people  were  induced  to  accept  it,  on 
the  ground  that  universal  suffrage,  vesting  all  law-making  power  in 
the  people ;  guaranteeing  free  speech,  free  press,  and  unmolested 
assemblage,  the  right  to  keep  and  bear  arms ;  speedy  trial  by  an  im¬ 
partial  jury,  and  protection  against  unreasonable  and  unlawful 
search  or  seizure  of  persons  or  property — were  constitutional  safe¬ 
guards  deemed  ample  protection  for  their  rights. 

The  United  States  formed  a  vast,  unsettled,  inexhaustible  region. 
A  comparatively  small  strip  of  country  from  Maine  to  Florida 
was  sparsely  inhabited.  All  who  desired  could  acquire  a  competency. 
The  wage-class  felt  no  apprehension  on  that  score.  The  doors  of 
the  nation  were  thrown  open  and  the  poor  and  miserable  and  de¬ 
spoiled  of  every  clime  were  invited  to  come  to  the  “land  of  the  free 
and  home  of  the  brave”  as  the  “harbor  and  refuge  of  the  oppressed.” 


CAPITALISM — ITS  DEVELOPMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


Xlll 


That  invitation  was  eagerly  heard  and  quickly  accepted,  and  to  this 
fact  alone  is  due  the  rapid  development  and  growth  of  the  Republic. 
For  years  after  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  the  slave  trade 
flourished  and  thousands  upon  thousands  of  ignorant  helpless  Afri¬ 
cans  were  kidnapped  and  brought  in  chains  to  the  United  States. 
The  treatment  of  the  great  populous  tribes  of  Indians  was  of  a  simi¬ 
lar  character.  Those  who  could  not  be  subdued  and  enslaved  were 
killed,  and  as  America  was  the  native  heath  of  the  Indian  they 
chose  death  rather  than  slavery,  until  there  remains  scarcely  a  rem¬ 
nant  of  this  once  powerful  race  upon  the  continent.  About  1830, 
when  population  had  greatly  increased,  in  common  with  land  values 
and  other  property,  the  special  advantages  of  chattel-slave  labor 
which  was  so  apparent  in  a  new,  unsettled  country  began  to  dimin¬ 
ish.  With  a  growth  of  population  came  an  augmentation  of  wage- 
laborers,  and  the  modes  of  industry,  such  as  manufacture,  etc., 
where  not  very  well  adapted  to  chattel  labor.  It  began  to  appear 
that  wage  labor  zvas  cheaper  and  therefore  more  remunerative  to 
capital  than  zvas  chattel-slave  labor.  There  arose  in  consequence 
conflicting  interests  upon  this  subject,  which  by  degrees — as  popu¬ 
lation  increased — developed  into  sectional  conflicts,  which  were  geo¬ 
graphically  designated  “north”  and  “south.” 

For  certain  forms  of  labor — agricultural  for  instance — chattel- 
slave  labor  was  considered  to  be  more  profitable  than  wage  labor. 
But  in  manufacture  and  all  departments  of  skilled  industry  the  labor 
of  wage-workers  was  preferred  because  more  remunerative.  The 
supply  of  chattel-slaves  was  cut  off  by  a  law  enacted  prohibiting  the 
slave  trade,  and  this  fact  was  alone  sufficient  to  cause  the  death-blow 
to  that  form  of  labor.  But  the  simple,  primitive  forms  of  production 
for  which  the  labor  of  chattel-slaves  was  adopted  caused  the  owners 
of  that  form  of  capital  to  invest  it  where  it  would  bring  the  greatest 
returns.  Therefore  the  slave-holding  interests  gravitated  to  the 
southern  portion  of  the  United  States,  where  a  mild  climate,  length¬ 
ened  seasons  and  consequently  cheaper  clothes,  fuel  and  shelter 
was  to  be  obtained.  The  propertied  class — capitalists — were  intent 
only  on  profits  and  losses.  Out  of  these  two  forms  of  labor — chattel 
and  wage — arose  the  “irrepressible  conflict”  and  the  political  shib¬ 
boleth,  “America  must  be  all  slave  or  all  free.”  The  slave-holding 


xiv  CAPITALISM — ITS  DEVELOPMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

interests  became  alarmed  at  the  increasing  power  of  the  wage-labor 
system.  They  perceived  their  “vested  right”  to  lawfully,  constitu¬ 
tionally  hold  property  in  slaves  to  be  threatened.  Their  power  had 
until  now  been  supreme  in  national  affairs  and  they  were  blinded 
with  arrogance.  They  refused  all  overtures  to  peaceably  manumit 
their  slaves  by  means  of  gradual  emancipation,  to  be  recompensed  out 
oif  the  public  treasury,  but,  on  the  contrary,  indignantly  rejected  all 
such  proposals  and  insisted  upon  their  constitutional  right  to  extend 
slavery  into  the  Territories.  Their  attitude  sharpened  the  contest 
between  the  wage-labor  capitalists  and  the  chattel  slave-owners.  Upon 
the  election  of  Abraham  Lincoln  to  the  Presidency  of  the  United 
States  in  i860  “the  South”  seceded  from  “the  North”  and  set  up  a 
Confederacy  which  recognized  the  chattel-slave  labor  as  its  corner¬ 
stone.  Mr.  Lincoln,  though  in  sentiment  an  “Abolitionist,”  an  ardent 
defender  of  man’s  abstract  right  to  life  and  liberty,  was  also,  for  the 
time  being,  the  representative  of  the  wage-labor  system.  The  exi¬ 
gencies  of  the  war  of  the  rebellion  afforded  the  sought-for  oppor¬ 
tunity,  the  Emancipation  Proclamation  was  issued  as  “a  military 
necessity.”  Chattel-slave  labor  was  abolished  and  the  system  of 
wage-labor  established  in  its  stead.  While  upon  its  surface  this 
struggle  between  the  “North”  and  the  “South”  was  waged  ostensi¬ 
bly  in  behalf  of  “free”  against  “slave”  labor,  and  was  apparently  a 
political  question  waged  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union,  it  was, 
in  fact,  an  economic  question  growing  out  of  the  two  diverse  and 
conflicting  systems  of  labor,  viz. :  chattel  and  wage.  The  owners  of 
capital  in  the  form  of  chattel-slaves  were  compelled  by  armed  revo¬ 
lution  to  relinquish  that  form  of  property.  They  threw  themselves 
as  a  barrier  across  the  pathway  of  societary  evolution,  of  historic  de¬ 
velopment  and  were  swept  aside  by  its  irresistible  force. 

The  Rebellion  of  1861  was  a  failure.  The  Rebellion  of  1776  was 
a  success.  The  former  was  a  struggle  against  evolutionary  develop¬ 
ment  of  modern  capitalism  ;  the  latter  was  fought  on  the  line  with 
and  for  progress.  Both  contests  are  generally  regarded  as  political ; 
but  the  underlying,  moving  cause  in  each  was  economic.  The  appar¬ 
ently  political  character  of  these  two  revolutionary  struggles  arises 
from  the  fact  the  contest  in  both  instances  was  waged  by  one  portion 
of  the  propertied  class  against  the  other  upon  questions  of  property. 


CAPITALISM - ITS  DEVELOPMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


XV 


Ever  since  the  organization  of  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  there  has  existed  among  the  people  a  small,  but  earnest  mi¬ 
nority,  known  as  “Abolitionists,”  because  they  advanced  the  abstract 
right  of  “all  men”  to  “life,  liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness.” 
But  the  Abolitionists  were  an  insignificant  minority.  Their  demands 
were  never  heeded  until  the  requirements  of  modern  capitalism 
began  to  require  an  extension  of  the  system  of  wage  labor  in  prefer¬ 
ence  to  the  system  of  chattel-slave  labor.  Capital  invested  in  wage 
labor  and  capital  invested  in  chattel-slave  labor  were  hostile  in  their 
interests.  The  slave-holding  interests  were  more  sensitive  and  appre¬ 
hensive  of  injury  and  were  in  consequence  easily  mobilized  on  the  po¬ 
litical  battle-field.  From  the  organization  of  the  Government  up  to 
•the  slave-holders’  rebellion  in  1861  the  propertied  interests  in  chattel- 
slaves  had  practical  control  and  direction  of  the  affairs  of  Govern¬ 
ment. 

With  the  termination  of  the  war  of  1861  began  the  second  epoch 
of  capitalism  in  the  United  States.  The  ex-chattel  slave  was  enfran¬ 
chised, — made  a  political  sovereign.  He  was  now  a  “freeman” 
without  an  inch  of  soil,  a  cent  of  money,  a  stitch  of  clothes  or  a 
morsel  of  food.  He  was  free  to  compete  with  his  fellow  wage¬ 
worker  for  an  opportunity  to  serve  capital.  The  conditions  of  his 
freedom  consisted  in  the  right  to  work  on  the  terms  dictated  by  his 
employer,  or — starve.  There  no  longer  existed  any  sectional  conflicts 
or  other  conflicts  of  a  disturbing  political  nature.  All  men  were 
now  “free  and  equal  before  the  law.”  A  period  of  unprecedented 
activity  in  capitalistic  circles  set  in.  Steam  and  electricity  applied 
to  machinery  was  employed  in  almost  every  department  of  industry, 
and  compared  with  former  times  fabulous  wealth  was  created. 

Political  parties,  no  longer  divided  in  interest  upon  property 
questions,  all  legislation  was  centered  upon  a  development  of  the 
resources  of  the  country.  To  this  end  vast  tracts  of  government 
land,  amounting  to  many  million  acres,  equalling  in  extent  seven 
states  the  size  of  Illinois,  were  donated  as  subsidies  to  the  projectors 
of  railways.  The  national  debt,  incurred  to  prosecute  the  rebellion, 
and  amounting  to  three  billion  dollars,  was  capitalized,  by  creating 
interest  upon  the  bonds.  Hundreds  of  millions  were  given  as  bonuses 
to  proposed  railways,  steamship  lines,  etc.  A  protective  tariff  law 


Xvi  CAPITALISM - ITS  DEVELOPMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

was  enacted  which  for  the  past  twenty  years  has  imposed  a  tax  upon 
the  people  amounting  to  one  billion  dollars  annually.  A  National 
Banking  system  was  established  which  gave  control  of  finance  to  a 
banking  monopoly.  By  means  of  these  and  other  laws  capitalist  com¬ 
binations,  monopolies,  syndicates,  and  trusts  were  created  and  fos¬ 
tered,  until  they  obtained  absolute  control  of  the  principal  avenues  of 
industry,  commerce  and  trade.  Arbitrary  prices  are  fixed  by  these 
combinations  and  the  consumers — mainly  the  poor — are  compelled 
by  their  necessities  to  pay  whatever  price  is  exacted.  Thus  during 
the  past  twenty-five  years, — since  the  abolition  of  the  chattel-slave 
labor  system — twenty-five  thousand  millionaires  have  been  created, 
who  by  their  combinations  control  and  virtually  own  the  fifty  bil¬ 
lion  dollars  estimate  wealth  of  the  United  States,  while  on  the  other 
hand  twenty  million  wage-workers  have  been  created  whose  poverty 
forces  them  into  a  ceaseless  competition  with  each  other  for  oppor¬ 
tunity  to  earn  the  bare  necessities  of  existence.  What  had,  therefore, 
required  generations  to  accomplish  in  Great  Britain  and  the  conti¬ 
nent,  was  achieved  during  the  past  twenty-five  years  in  the  United 
States,  to-wit:  The  practical  destruction  of  the  middle-class  (small 
dealers,  farmers,  manufacturers,  etc.),  and  the  division  of  society 
into  two  classes — the  wage-worker  and  capitalist.  While  the  fabu¬ 
lous  fortunes  resulting  from  legislation  enacted  in  the  name  of  the 
people  were  being  acquired,  the  people  were  not  conscious  of  the  evil 
effects  which  would  flow  from  those  laws.  Not  until  the  evil  effects 
were  felt  were  they  aware  of  the  slavery  to  which  they  had  been  law¬ 
fully  reduced.  The  first  great  pinch  of  the  laws  was  felt  throughout 
the  whole  country  in  the  financial  panic  of  1873-77,  resulting  in  the 
latter  year  in  widespread  strikes  of  the  unemployed  and  poorly-paid 
wage  class.  In  response  to  the  demand  for  information  upon  eco¬ 
nomic  matters,  Bureaus  of  Labor  were  established  in  many  States, 
as  also  for  the  general  government  at  Washington.  These  statistics 
related  to  operations  and  effects  of  capitalism  in  the  chief  depart¬ 
ments  of  industry  and  trade.  The  absorption  of  the  smaller  indus¬ 
tries,  etc.,  etc.,  into  the  great  corporations,  syndicates,  etc.,  was 
very  rapid.  The  National  commercial  agency  (Bradstreet’s)  fur¬ 
nished  statistics  showing  unprecedented  bankruptcies.  The  Agri¬ 
cultural  Bureaus  of  the  various  States  gave  accounts  of  similar 


CAPITALISM — ITS  DEVELOPMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  XVli 

depressions  in  agriculture.  Illinois,  the  richest  agricultural  State 
in  the  United  States  and  for  that  reason  a  criterion  for  the  others, 
is  shown  by  the  statistics  of  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture  for 
1886  to  have  over  three-fourths  of  its  farms  mortgaged,  and  that 
the  crops  for  the  last  five  years  have  not  paid  the  cost  of  production ! 
Illinois  is  the  greatest  corn  producing  State  in  the  Union  and  the 
statistics  given  by  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture  on  that  crop  is  as 
follows : 


For  the  year  1882  at  a  loss  of .  $1,273,571.00 

For  the  year  1883  at  a  loss  of .  8,621,440.00 

For  the  year  1884  at  a  loss  of .  11,780,544.00 

For  the  year  1885  at  a  loss  of .  10,831,701.00 

For  the  year  1886  at  a  loss  of .  19,070,209.00 


Total  loss  in  five  years . $51,577,475-00 


The  Bureau  also  states  that  more  than  two-thirds  of  the  farms 
which  have  suffered  these  losses  are  mortgaged.  Investigation 
shows  the  same  condition  exists  in  every  State.  Statistics  show  that 
the  condition  of  the  farming  class,  as  a  class,  is  far  worse  than  it 
was  twenty  or  thirty  years  ago.  The  American  farmer  as  a  class  is 
enslaved  by  mortgages,  and  rapidly  drifting  into  peasantry  and  serf¬ 
dom  agriculture.  Meanwhile  the  stupendously  increasing  aggrega¬ 
tion  of  wealth  into  the  hands  of  a  few  is  going  on. 

In  manufacture  statistics  it  is  shown  that  while  the  number  of 
manufacturers  are  diminishing  from  10  to  30  per  cent  every  year 
the  remainder  are  increasing  their  wealth  enormously,  and  that 
while  the  wages  of  labor  have  been  diminishing  yearly  the  number 
.of  workers  wanting  work  and  unable  to  procure  it  have  rapidly 
increased.  The  United  States  census  for  1880,  gives  in  Census 
Bulletin  302  elaborate  details  of  capital  invested,  number  of  persons 
employed,  the  amount  of  wages  paid,  value  of  materials  used,  the 
value  of  all  the  establishments  of  manufacturing  industry,  gas  ex¬ 
cepted,  in  each  of  the  States  and  Territories  as  follows: 

The  number  of  industrial  establishments  is  253,840,  having  a  capital  of 
$2,790,223,506.  Of  this  number  New  York  has  42,739,  with  a  capital  of 
$514,246,575,  employing  364,551  males  above  sixteen  years  of  age,  and  137,393 
females  above  the  age  of  fifteen  years.  The  total  amount  paid  in  wages 


XVlii  CAPITALISM — ITS  DEVELOPMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

during  that  year  aggregated  $198,634,029,  and  the  value  of  the  products  was 
$1,080,638,696. 

Pennsylvania  follows  the  Empire  state  with  3 1,225  workshops,  387,112  em¬ 
ployes,  and  a  capital  of  $447,499,993.  The  value  of  its  products  is  $744,748,045, 
or  $335,890,651  less  than  that  of  New  York.  In  the  northern  states,  including 
Maine,  New  Hampshire,  Vermont,  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  Rhode  Island, 
New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Indiana  and  Michigan,  there 
are  153,453  places  of  industry,  or  8,982  more  than  in  the  states  of  Delaware, 
Maryland,  Virginia,  West  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Ken¬ 
tucky,  Tennessee,  Georgia,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Florida,  Arkansas  and 
Texas. 

Rhode  Island,  the  smallest  state  in  the  Union,  has  2,205  workshops,  which 
is  1,459  more  than  Delaware,  the  next  smallest,  and  only  791  less  than 
Texas,  the  largest  state  in  the  Union.  In  amount  of  capital  involved,  how¬ 
ever,  Rhode  Island  is  $66,330,382  ahead  of  Texas,  and  the  value  of  her 
products  is  $104,163,621,  while  that  of  Texas  is  only  $20,719,128. 

The  District  of  Columbia,  with  971  establishments  and  $5,552,526  capital, 
is  ahead  of  Florida  and  Colorado  in  the  value  of  its  products  and  in  the 
number  of  workshops.  The  District  employs  5,495  males  above  sixteen  years 
of  age,  and  1,389  females  above  fifteen  years  of  age,  and  1,389  children 
and  youths.  The  establishments  pay  to  these  hands  $3,924,612  in  wages 
yearly,  and  the  products  manufactured  aggregate  $11,882,316,  the  value  of 
materials  used  being  $5,365,400. 

Colorado,  the  youngest  state,  which  was  admitted  into  the  Union  in  1876, 
can  show  but  very  little  increase  in  the  value  of  its  products  over  that  of  the 
District  of  Columbia.  This  state  has  599  establishments  and  a  capital  of 
$4,311,714.  It  employs  4,625  males,  266  females,  156  children,  and  pays  in 
wages  $2,314,427,  or  $1,610,185  less  than  is  paid  for  wages  in  this  District. 

Forming  the  rear  of  this  long  line  of  states  and  territories  comes  Arizona 
with  66  workshops  and  an  invested  capital  of  $272,600.  .  There  are  216  men 
employed  in  the  Territory,  which  added  to  the  two  females  and  the  two 
children,  make  a  total  of  220  persons,  actively  engaged  in  industrial  occu¬ 
pations.  The  total  amount  of  wages  is  $111,180,  while  the  value  of  the 
products  from  these  establishments  is  $615,655. 

In  the  253,840  workshops  throughout  the  country,  the  average  number  of 
hands  employed  is  2,738,950.  Of  this  number  2,025,279  are  males,  531,753 
females,  and  181,918  children.  The  total  amount  of  wages  paid  out  during 
the  year  is  $947,919,674,  and  the  value  of  the  products  is  $5,369,667,706. 

The  list  quotes  the  value  of  the  materials  used  in  manufacturing  as  aggre¬ 
gating  $3,394,340,029,  which  leaves  a  profit  on  products  of  $1,975,327,677. 
When  the  amount  paid  for  wages  is  deducted  from  this,  there  remains  a  clear 
margin  on  the  figures  quoted  of  $1,027,408,003. 

From  the  statistics  given  above  we  learn  that  the  average  wages 


CAPITALISM — ITS  DEVELOPMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


XIX 


of  each  wage-worker  amounts  to  $304  per  annum,  and  the  average 
annual  net  profit  on  the  labor  product  of  each  wage-worker  is  $374. 
The  United  States  census  for  the  year  1880  contains  tables  which 
show  that  the  daily  average  product  of  each  wage-worker  in  manu¬ 
facturing  industry  is  valued  at  $10,  and  the  daily  average  wages 
at  $1.15.  The  increase  in  the  quantity  of  wealth  which  a  wage 
laborer  can  now  produce  as  compared  to  1870-  is  ascribed  to  the  in¬ 
creased  application  of  machinery  and  the  increased  sub-division  and 
consequent  simplification  of  the  process  of  production.  To  this  fact 
is  also  due  the  diminution  of  the  share  (wages)  of  their  product, 
which  the  workers  now  receive,  as  well  as  the  increase  of  the  number 
of  enforced  idle  since  1880. 

The  United  States  Census  for  1880  gives  the  annual  average 
wages  of  each  laborer  engaged  in  manufacture  at  $304,  and  the  an¬ 
nual  average  net  profit  on  capital  invested  at  $374.  In  other  words, 
each  laborer  produced  values  amounting  to  $678,  for  which  they 
received  $304  in  wages,  the  remaining  $374  being  the  amount  which 
the  owners  of  capital  charged  them  for  its  use. 

The  wage  system  is  the  foundation  upon  which  the  United  States 
Government,  in  common  with  all  other  governments,  rests.  This 
foundation  was  laid  in  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1787,  as  de¬ 
scribed  by  John  Adams  when  he  said :  “What  matters  it  whether  you 
give  the  food  and  clothes  to  the  slave  direct,  or  whether  you  just  give 
him'  enough  in  wages  to  purchase  the  same?”  Nearly  one  hundred 
years  later  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  appealed  to  armed  revolu¬ 
tion;  the  Constitution  was  set  aside  and  millions  of  property  and 
nearly  a  million  human  lives  were  sacrificed  in  order  to  place  the 
chattel  slave  upon  the  same  industrial  plane  as  the  wage-worker. 
Before  the  inauguration  of  the  war  of  the  rebellion  offers  were  made 
to  the  slaveholders  to  pay  them  $1,000  apiece  for  their  slaves,  as  being 
far  cheaper  and  more  humane  than  to  embroil  the  nation  in  civil 
war.  That  price  was  indignantly  rejected,  as  being  too  small;  be¬ 
sides  the  slaveholders  held  that  chattel  slavery  was  a  “divine  insti¬ 
tution/”  and  it  would,  therefore,  be  sacrilege  to  attempt  its  abolition. 
In  1880,  sixteen  years  after  the  close  of  the  rebellion,  the  United 
States  Census  states  there  was  invested  in  the  woolen  industries  of 
the  country  capital  amounting  to  $159,000,000,  and  the  number  of 


XX  CAPITALISM - ITS  DEVELOPMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

wage-workers  employed  100,000.  The  capital  represented  an  aver¬ 
age  investment  of  $995  to  each  wage  laborer.  The  cost  of  raw 
material  was  $164,000,000;  the  value  of  manufactured  material  was 
placed  at  $267,000,000.  The  increased  value  of  the  manufactured 
material  over  the  raw  is  placed  at  $107,000,000.  That  upon  $995 
invested,  an  annual  profit  of  $343  was  obtained,  while  the  average 
annual  wages  of  each  operative  was  $293,  or  fifty  dollars  less  than 
the  income  derived  from  the  $995. 

Chattel  slaves  before  the  war  were  valued  at  $1,000  apiece.  Six¬ 
teen  years  after  the  abolition  of  chattel  slaves,  wage-workers  em¬ 
ployed  in  manufactures  in  John  Adams’s  State  (Massachusetts)  were 
worth,  commercially,  $850,  or  $150  less  than  the  former  chattel  slave. 

These  statistics  prove  the  claim  made  by  the  supporters  of  the 
wage  system  of  labor  that  wage  labor  is  cheaper  than  chattel  labor. 
They  demonstrate  the  economic  law  of  competition,  which  is  the 
rule  of  the  cheapest.  The  propertyless  class — the  wage-workers — are 
by  competition  forced  to  sell  their  labor — themselves — to  the  lowest 
bidder,  or  starve. 

With  the  close  of  the  rebellion  of  1861,  what  is  now  known  as 
the  labor  movement,  began  to  assume  large  proportions.  Not  until 
now  was  there  a  very  numerous  and  stationary  wage  class.  In  conse¬ 
quence,  that  state  of  affairs  predicted  by  Lord  Macauley,  and  quoted 
in  our  opening  chapter,  began  to  appear.  Trades  unions,  labor 
unions,  etc.,  composed  of  wage  laborers  had  heretofore  existed  in 
small  numbers,  but  were  now  rapidly  formed  as  production  in  mass 
was  increasingly  developed.  Strikes  began  to  be  frequently  resorted 
to  in  order  to  prevent  a  reduction  or  to  cause  an  increase  of  wages. 
The  first  national  movement  of  organized  labor  was  the  effort  made 
to  inaugurate  the  eight-hour  system  throughout  the  United  States  in 
1868.  That  attempt  was  defeated. 

The  effort  to  introduce  the  eight-hour  system  has  been  made  re¬ 
peatedly  since,  sometimes  by  isolated  trades  unions,  at  other  times 
by  national  or  international  unions,  and  lastly  by  the  Federated 
Trades  Unions  of  the  United  States  and  Canada.  This  latter  body, 
representing  400,000  organized  workmen,  met  in  Chicago,  in  1884,  in 
what  they  styled  an  “International  Congress  of  Organized  Labor,” 
and  fixed  upon  a  date,  May  1,  1886,  to  inaugurate  the  eight-hour 


CAPITALISM - ITS  DEVELOPMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


XXI 


system.  The  organization  of  the  Knights  of  Labor  in  1869  had  in¬ 
creased  its  membership  to>  400,000  in  1884.  One  of  the  principal 
objects  of  this  organization  was  the  establishment  of  the  eight-hour 
system  of  labor.  At  this  date,  1884,  a  million  organized  wage-work¬ 
ers  in  the  United  States  considered  the  establishment  of  the  eight- 
hour  system  one  of  the  main  objects  of  their  organization.  The  agi¬ 
tation  for  a  reduction  of  the  hours  of  labor  culminated  in  the  strike 
of  360,000  men  on  May  1,  1886.  In  Chicago1,  the  center  of  the  eight- 
hour  movement,  over  40,000  workmen  went  on  a  strike  for  the  eight- 
hour  work  day.  On  May  3  some  of  the  strikers  were  fired  on  by  the 
police,  killing  one  and  wounding  several.  On  May  4  workingmen 
held  an  indignation  meeting  which  was  broken  up  by  the  police,  when 
a  dynamite  bomb  was  thrown,  which  killed  seven  policemen  and 
wounded  many  persons. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 

IN  CHICAGO. 

By  GEORGE  A.  SCHILLING 


It  was  in  March  of  1876,  when  P.  J.  McGuire  and  Comrade 
Loebkert,  as  the  organizers  and  agitators  of  the  Social-Democratic 
party  of  America,  visited  Chicago  and  other  Western  points  for 
the  purpose  of  sowing  the  seed  of  Socialism,  that  I  first  met  Albert 
R.  Parsons.  There  was  a  mass-meeting  on  Saturday  evening  at 
Vorwaerts  Turner  Hall,  where  McGuire  spoke,  and  at  the  end  of  his 
eloquent  address  announced  his  intention  of  organizing  an  English 
Section  of  Socialists,  and  invited  all  those  satisfied  with  the  doctrine 
as  expounded  that  evening  to  hand  in  their  names  and  addresses  as 
they  passed  out.  It  was  on  this  occasion  that  A.  R.  Parsons,  John 
Swertfeger,  O.  A.  Bishop,  T.  J.  Morgan,  Adolph  decker,  and  my¬ 
self  embraced  the  opportunity  of  connecting  ourselves  with  the  So¬ 
cialistic  movement.  The  next  day  (Sunday)  McGuire  addressed 
another  meeting  at  the  old  Globe  hall  on  Desplaines  street.  After 
his  address  he  invited  all  persons  to  ask  questions  on  any  point  that 
was  not  yet  clear  to  them.  It  was  at  this  juncture  that  a  well- 
dressed  man  with  a  clear  accent  rose  and  asked  whether,  in  this 
co-operative  state  as  outlined  by  the  speaker,  all  persons  were  to 
share  alike,  regardless  of  the  amount  they  would  produce.  The 
interrogator  was  A.  R.  Parsons.  The  question  created  the  liveliest 
interest,  as  we  were  all  anxious  to  know  whether  we  had  struck  a 
Communistic,  whack-up-all-around  institution,  in  which  the  parasite 
was  to  find  a  loafers’  paradise  at  the  expense  of  the  industrious 
worker,  or  whether  the  law  of  merit  was  still  to  obtain.  McGuire 
answered  that  the  Social-Democratic  party  only  contemplated  to 
nationalize  land,  the  instruments  of  production,  exchange,  and 
transportation,  rewarding  each  worker,  however,  in  proportion  to 

xxii 


HISTORY  OF  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  CHICAGO. 


XX111 


his  effort.  This  seemed  to  give  general  satisfaction,  and  the  En¬ 
glish  Section  from  that  time  on  was  a  permanent  factor  in  the  labor 
movement  of  Chicago.  Before  this  John  McAuliffe  and  John  Eck- 
ford  were  the  only  English-speaking  Socialists  in  this  city.  Sub¬ 
sequently  Philip  Van  Patten,  John  Paulson,  and  others  joined,  and 
the  agitation  began  in  earnest.  At  this  time  A.  R.  Parsons  and 
John  McAuliffe  were  the  only  ones  capable  of  expounding  in  public 
the  principles  of  the  party  in  the  English  language;  but  McAuliffe 
was  an  extremist,  unwilling  to  advocate  ameliorative  measures.  The 
Section  “shelved”  him,  except  on  great  special  occasions,  and  A. 
R.  Parsons  for  a  long  time  was  practically  the  only  public  English 
speaker  we  had. 

At  this  time  the  English  Socialists  struggled  against  many 
odds.  There  was  the  prejudice  of  the  public  against  Socialism — a 
feeling  the  English  trades  unions  fully  shared — besides,  the  Ger¬ 
man  Socialists  were  suspicious  of  the  English  Section  and  oft-times 
gave  them  to  understand  that  the  damned  Yankees  needed  watch¬ 
ing.  But  the  worst  of  all  was,  we  had  no  English  literature  on 
social-economic  subjects.  The  Socialist,  a  weekly  published  by  the 
party  in  New  York,  was  the  only  food  we  had.  This  paper  contained 
a  series  of  very  able  articles  from  the  pen  of  Victor  Drury,  of  New 
York,  who,  while  not  the  editor,  was  the  major  part  of  the  brains. 
These  articles  have  since  been  revised  and  republished  in  pamphlet 
form,  and  are  entitled :  “The  Polity  of  the  Labor  Movement.”  In 
the  fall  of  1876  the  Social-Democratic  party  and  the  Internationals 
met  in  joint  convention  in  Philadelphia  and  formed  the  “Working¬ 
men’s  Party  of  the  United  States.”  The  Socialist  was  subsequently 
called  the  Labor  Standard ,  and  J.  P.  McDonnell  succeeded  Comrade 
McGregor  in  the  editorial  chair.  The  English  Section  of  Chicago 
met  every  Monday  evening  to  map  out  a  program  for  public  agita¬ 
tion  and  to  discuss  such  economic  subjects  and  party  methods 
among  themselves  as  the  mental  friction  and  antagonisms  prevail¬ 
ing  within  its  ranks  at  that  time  naturally  produced.  It  must  be 
remembered  that  the  amalgamation  of  the  International  and  Social- 
Democrats  brought  together  two  opposite  elements  of  Socialists. 
The  former  opposed  political  action  as  a  means  of  economic  eman¬ 
cipation,  and  predicted  the  wreck  of  the  party  if  persisted  in,  while 


XXIV 


HISTORY  OF  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  CHICAGO. 


the  latter  insisted  that  the  ballot  was  the  surest  means  by  which  the 
enlightenment  of  the  masses  could  be  secured  and  the  final  overthrow 
of  the  present  capitalistic  system  accomplished.  The  former  advised 
the  members  of  the  party  to  join  trades  unions,  and  through  the 
force  of  economic  organization  secure  concessions  by  degrees,  while 
the  latter  denounced  all  attempts  at  amelioration  under  the  present 
system,  declaring  that  less  hours  of  labor  and  higher  wages  would 
only  cause  the  worker  to  be  more  contented  with  the  wage  system. 
“They  are  getting  too  much  now,”  they  would  explain. 

The  Social-Democratic  element  in  the  party  evidently  desired  a 
speedy  change — a  reorganization  of  society — and  believed  that 
wholesale  hunger  and  destitution  of  the  masses  would  furnish  the 
surplus  steam — discontent — that  would  blow  the  capitalistic  sys¬ 
tem  “to  kingdom  come.”  Hungry  stomachs  and  naked  backs  were 
to  impel  the  army  of  workers  to  assault  the  citadel  of  capital, 
destroy  its  ramparts,  and  erect  upon  its  ruins  the  Eldorado  of  uni¬ 
versal  peace  and  plenty.  To  this  Ira  Stewart  and  others  would 
reply  that  society  was  a  gradual  growth ;  that  you  could  not  by 
any  magician’s  “hocus  pocus”  cry  of  “presto  change”  immediately 
transfer  our  society  into  an  Eden ;  that  starving  men  were  not 
brave,  but  cowardly — willing  slaves,  not  “heroes.”  Ira  Stewart  evi¬ 
dently  was  of  opinion  that  the  Englishman  who  would  only  fight  on  a 
full  stomach  manifested  a  great  deal  of  human  nature. 

“In  Heaven’s  name,  let’s  get  some  supper  now, 

And  then  I’mi  with  you  if  you’re  for  a  row.” 

The  daily  press  paid  little  or  no  attention  to  us  in  those  days. 
We  called  public  meetings  in  all  parts  of  the  city,  but  the  masses 
were  slow  to  move.  Oft-times,  after  posting  bills  and  paying  for 
advertising,  we  were  also  compelled  to  contribute  our  last  nickel  for 
hall  rent,  and  walk  home  instead  of  ride.  At  all  these  meetings  A. 
R.  Parsons  was  the  only  English  speaker.  In  the  spring  of  1877 
the  party  in  Chicago  resolved  to  enter  the  political  arena  as  an 
experiment,  limiting  its  action  to  the  Fifteenth  Ward,  and  nomi¬ 
nated  A.  R.  Parsons  as  its  Aldermanic  candidate. 

On  this  point  we  concentrated  the  party  strength,  brought 
volunteer  ticket  peddlers  from  all  parts  of  the  city,  and  worked  like 


HISTORY  OF  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  CHICAGO. 


XXV 


beavers.  For  this  we  were  called  carpet-baggers  and  imported 
foreigners,  because  some  of  us  interfered  in  the  politics  of  a  ward 
in  which  we  did  not  live.  We  polled  over  400  votes — not  enough  to 
elect  our  candidate,  but  the  good  impression  we  made  on  the  more 
thoughtful  citizens  was  regarded  as  a  great  moral  victory.  Our 
influence  as  a  party,  however,  both  in  Chicago  and  elsewhere,  was 
very  limited  until  the  great  railroad  strike  of  1877.  Before  this 
the  labor  question  was  of  little  or  no  importance  to  the  average  citi¬ 
zen.  The  large  mass  of  our  people  contented  themselves  with  the 
belief  that  in  this  great  and  free  Republic  there  was  no  room  for 
real  complaint.  The  idea  that  all  Americans  were  on  an  equal 
footing  seemed  to  be  recognized  as  an  incontrovertible  fact  in  the 
halls  of  legislation,  in  the  press,  and  the  pulpit. 

But  when  the  mutterings  and  demonstrations  of  discontent  at 
Martinsburg,  West  Virginia,  caused  by  a  10  per  cent,  reduction  in 
wages  on  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  railroad,  belched  forth  a  few 
days  later  in  the  City  of  Pittsburgh  in  fire,  bloodshed,  and  destruc¬ 
tion,  with  its  frenzied  populace  on  one  side  and  its  frightened, 
retreating  militia  on  the  other,  and  from  there  swept  across  the 
entire  continent,  with  such  rapidity  that  within  a  few  days  the 
whole  country  was  enveloped  and  presented  a  condition  of  social 
and  industrial  mutiny  that  overwhelmed  and  surprised  in  its  spon¬ 
taneity  and  extent  the  closest  observers  of  economic  development,  it 
no  longer  permitted  us,  as  Americans,  to  thank  God — with  our 
former  vanity — that  we  were  not  like  other  nations.  Pittsburgh, 
with  its  sea  of  fire,  caused  by  its  burning  freight  cars,  round-houses, 
and  depots,  was  the  calcium  light  that  illumined  the  skies  of  our 
social  and  industrial  life,  and  revealed  the  pinched  faces  of  the  work¬ 
ers  and  the  opulence,  arrogance,  and  unscrupulousness  of  the  rich. 

The  labor  question,  which  up  to  this  time  was  considered  insig¬ 
nificant,  rose  to  a  grave  and  important  problem.  The  strike  reached 
Chicago  in  all  its  fury  July  23. 

The  members  of  the  Workingmen’s  Party  of  the  United  States 
everywhere  took  advantage  of  this  tidal  wave  of  popular  discontent, 
and  called  meetings  for  the  purpose  of  presenting  to  an  astonished 
populace  the  cause  and  the  remedy  of  this  general  upheaval.  On 


XXVI 


HISTORY  OF  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  CHICAGO. 


July  2 5  we  called  a  mass-meeting  on  Market  square,  at  which  A. 
R.  Parsons  and  John  McAuliffe  made  the  principal  speeches.  The 
city  had  been  under  the  greatest  excitement  for  several  days,  and 
the  announcement  of  this  meeting  brought  together  at  least  40,000 
people.  On  occasions  of  great  public  excitement  Albert  R.  Parsons 
was  a  host  as  a  public  speaker.  His  capacity  at  times  like  these  to 
address  himself  to  the  feelings  of  the  workers  was  something  mar¬ 
velous.  The  Inter-Ocean  declared  that  the  subsequent  mischief 
during  that  strike  in  Chicago'  was  all  due  to  Parsons’  speech.  The 
next  evening  another  meeting  was  called  at  the  same  place,  but  was 
dispersed  by  the  police,  who  demolished  the  speaker’s  stand  into 
kindling  wood  and  clubbed  the  unarmed  workers  right  and  left. 
Fred  Courth,  a  cigar-maker,  was  knocked  senseless.  We  carried 
him  up  in  the  old  Vorbote  office,  dressed  his  wound,  which  con¬ 
sisted  of  a  deep  gash  in  his  head,  the  marks  of  which  are  visible  to 
this  day.  The  same  day  (July  26)  the  Furniture-Workers’  Union 
called  a  meeting  at  Vorwserts  Turner  hall  at  the  request  of  their 
bosses,  who  desired  a  mutual  conference  for  the  settlement  of  what¬ 
ever  grievances  were  between  them.  The  police,  hearing  of  this 
meeting,  immediately  proceeded  to  break  it  up.  Mr.  Wasserman, 
the  then  proprietor  of  the  hall,  attempted  to  prevent  them  from 
entering,  but  they  knocked  him  down,  over  his  prostrate  form  broke 
through  the  door,  and,  without  any  notice  to  the  assemblage,  com¬ 
menced  shooting  and  clubbing.  One  of  the  members  of  the  union 
(Tessman)  was  shot  dead,  while  many  others  were  badly  wounded. 
The  matter  was  subsequently  made  a  test  case  in  the  Courts, 
and  Judge  McAllister  rendered  one  of  his  famous  decisions  on  the 
right  of  public  assemblage.  I  have  often  thought  of  this  case  in 
connection  with  the  Anarchist  trial.  It  was  claimed  by  the  friends 
of  the  defendants,  and  never  successfully  refuted,  that  Bonfield,  in 
ordering  the  attack  on  the  Haymarket  meeting,  assaulted  the  right 
of  public  assemblage,  and  that  whatever  means  were  employed  by 
the  citizens  there  assembled  to  repel  this  invasion,  were  both  justifi¬ 
able  and  lawful.  To  this  the  friends  of  the  police  replied  that  if 
the  attack  was  unlawful  they  could  find  redress  in  the  Courts.  But 
what  redress  did  the  Furniture-Workers’  Union  secure  for  the 
murder  of  its  member  Tessman?  Poverty,  as  a  rule,  is  at  a 


HISTORY  OF  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  CHICAGO. 


XXV11 


discount  in  our  Courts,  and  the  long-  delays  which  can  be  secured 
by  money  usually  result  in  defeat  for  those  who'  have  no  means. 
The  great  railroad  strike  of  1877  secured  us  the  public  ear.  True, 
the  press  and  pulpit,  with  but  few  exceptions,  declared  that  it  was 
the  work  of  Communistic  agitators.  But  there  were  others  who 
viewed  it  as  an  alarming  evidence  of  the  concentration  of  wealth 
and  the  rapid  changes  of  our  economic  life.  That  fall  the  party 
nominated  a  full  county  ticket,  with  Frank  A.  Stauber  as  County 
Treasurer  and  Albert  R.  Parsons  as  County  Clerk,  and  polled  8,000 
votes.  In  the  spring  of  ’78  we  elected  Frank  A.  Stauber  as  the 
Alderman  of  the  Fourteenth  Ward,  being  the  first  public  officer 
elected  by  the  Socialistic  party.  (A.  R.  Parsons  was  defeated  in 
this  election  as  Aldermanic  candidate  of  the  Fifteenth  Ward  by  a 
small  majority,  and  it  was  the  general  belief  that  he  was  counted 
out.)  This  gave  us  a  prestige,  and  everything  was  on  the  upward 
boom.  In  the  fall  of  1878  we  elected  four  members  to  the  State 
Legislature.  Our  members  were  everywhere  active  in  trades 
unions,  and  it  seemed  for  awhile  as  if  the  steady  progress  and  final 
triumph  of  the  Socialistic  party  was  soon  to  be  realized.  This  same 
fall  we  established  the  Socialist ,  an  English  weekly  edited  by  Frank 
Hirth  and  A.  R.  Parsons. 

In  the  spring  of  1879  we  nominated  a  full  city  ticket,  with  Dr. 
Schmidt  for  Mayor,  and  succeeded  in  polling  12,000  votes,  electing 
three  additional  Aldermen,  which  gave  the  party  four  respesenta- 
tives  in  the  Common  Council  of  Chicago. 

One  of  the  most  notable  incidents  showing  the  rapid  growth  of 
the  party  was  the  celebration  of  the  Paris  Commune  during  this 
same  spring.  The  committee  of  arrangements  secured  the  Exposi¬ 
tion  building,  with  a  capacity  of  40,000,  but  so  great  was  the  jam 
that  it  was  impossible  to  carry  out  the  program  of  singing,  dan¬ 
cing,  and  drilling.  It  was  estimated  that  at  least  60,000  people  vis¬ 
ited  the  Exposition  building  that  night,  while  thousands,  after  wait¬ 
ing  on  the  outside  for  hours,  unable  to  gain  admission,  returned 
home. 

The  community  was  startled  at  the  boldness  of  our  propositions 
in  demanding  collective  (Governmental)  control  of  land,  means  of 
transportation,  communication,  and  production,  and  the  dash  which 


XXV111 


HISTORY  OF  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  CHICAGO. 


characterized  our  effort  in  making  converts  to  this  scheme  of  social 
and  industrial  emancipation.  But  the  party  had  reached  the  zenith 
of  its  power  as  a  political  factor.  A  few  months  later  we  partici¬ 
pated — unofficially — in  the  judicial  election  which  returned  Judge 
McAllister  by  an  overwhelming  majority,  with  Barnum,  Tuley,  and 
Moran.  After  this  election  charges  of  improper  conduct  were  made 
against  some  of  our  members,  creating  internal  strife,  and  our  party 
influence  began  to  decline.  In  the  spring  of  ’80  we  re-elected  Frank 
A.  Stauber  to  the  Council  by  a  majority  of  thirty-one  votes,  but  his 
opponent,  who  belonged  to  the  element  of  “fine  workers,”  was  not 
willing  to  accept  this  popular  verdict.  At  the  Seventh  precinct 
Stauber  had  received  109  votes  to  his  opponent’s  100. 

The  results  were  declared  at  the  precinct  in  the  presence  of  the 
three  Election  Judges,  two  Clerks,  party  challengers,  and  a  police 
officer.  Two  of  the  Judges,  Walsh  and  Gibbs,  took  the  ballot-box 
and  tally  sheet  home,  and  on  learning  that  the  election  had  resulted 
in  the  defeat  of  their  candidate  (J.  J.  McGrath)  they  stuffed  the 
box  and  changed  the  result  on  the  tally  sheet  so  as  to  give  Stauber 
only  59  votes  and  J.  J.  McGrath  150. 

This  change  gave  McGrath  a  majority  and  he  was  seated  by 
the  Council.  A  long  litigation  ensued,  costing  the  workingmen  about 
$2,000  and  keeping  Mr.  Stauber  out  of  his  seat  for  nearly  a  year. 
Stauber  was  finally  recognized  by  the  Courts  as  the  duly  elected 
Alderman  from  the  Fourteenth  Ward.  Walsh  and  Gibbs,  the  two 
Election  Judges  who'  had  stuffed  the  ballot-box  and  forged  the  tally 
sheet,  were  tried  for  the  offense  and  acquitted,  Judge  Gardner  declar¬ 
ing  that,  while  they  had  violated  the  law,  there  had  been  no  evidence 
showing  that  that  had  been  their  intent. 

This  circumstance  did  more,  perhaps,  than  all  the  other  things 
combined  to  destroy  the  faith  of  the  Socialists  in  Chicago  in  the 
efficiency  of  the  ballot. 

From  that  time  on  the  advocates  of  physical  force  as  the  only 
means  of  industrial  emancipation  found  a  wide  field  of  action 
for  the  dissemination  and  acceptance  of  their  ideas.  The  Presiden¬ 
tial  election  of  1880  also  tended  to  disintegrate  the  party  as  a 
political  factor.  As  a  party,  we  had  participated  in  the  National 
convention  that  nominated  Gen.  Weaver,  and  it  was  the  opinion  of 


HISTORY  OF  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  CHICAGO. 


XXIX 


a  large  majority  of  the  English-speaking  Socialists  that  a  fusion 
with  the  Greenback  party  would  give  us  a  wider,  and  for  that 
reason  a  more  useful,  field  for  the  propagation  of  our  ideas — that 
we  would  establish  a  feeling  of  fellowship  among  people  with  whom 
there  was  already  much  in  common.  But  many  of  the  Germans, 
under  the  leadership  of  Paul  Grottkau  and  some  of  the  English, 
among  them  A.  R.  Parsons,  bolted,  and  from  that  time  on  dated 
the  actual  schism  in  the  Socialist  party.  The  bolters  to  the  can¬ 
didacy  of  Gen.  Weaver  did  not  yet  oppose  politics  as  a  principle, 
but  nominated  a  local  ticket  of  their  own.  They  still  believed  in 
the  State. 

The  philosophy  of  Anarchy  in  its  modern  sense  was  scarcely 
known.  “Phillip”  had  discussed  its  principles  with  Mr.  Smart  in 
the  columns  of  the  Irish  World,  and  it  was  this  controversy  which 
created  the  first  doubt  in  my  mind  as  to  the  feasibility  of  State 
Socialism.  But  it  was  not  until  Benjamin  R.  Tucker,  of  Boston, 
issued  his  Liberty — which  I  have  always  regarded  as  an  epoch  in  the 
intellectual  progress  of  the  movement — that  the  principle  of  volun¬ 
tary  association,  in  contradistinction  to  State  control,  began  to 
make  systematic  converts.  The  advent  of  Johann  Most  in  America 
also  produced  a  change  of  thought  or  feeling  among  many  of  the 
German  Socialists  “agin  the  Government.”  But  the  Communistic 
ideas  of  Most  are  so  exceedingly  authoritarian  that  I  have  never 
regarded  him  as  a  consistent  opponent  of  the  State.  “A  rose  by  any 
other  name  would  smell  as  sweet.” 

In  the  spring  of  1881  each  of  the  two  factions  of  Socialists  in 
Chicago  nominated  a  city  ticket.  I  was  nominated  for  Mayor  by 
the  element  that  had  supported  Gen.  Weaver  for  President,  and 
Timothy  O’Meara  was  nominated  by  the  other  side.  The  cam¬ 
paign  was  one  of  hostility  to  each  other,  rather  than  to  the  common 
enemy,  and  was  the  most  unpleasant  experience  I  ever  had  in  the 
movement.  From  this  time  on  everything  seemed  to  be  in  a  condi¬ 
tion  of  unrest,  uncertainty,  and  inertia.  The  English  Section  had 
dwindled  down  to  a  corporal’s  guard ;  some  of  its  most  active  mem¬ 
bers  had  left  it,  for  one  cause  or  another,  until  its  very  existence 
seemed  to  be  extinct,  its  leaders  having  retired  from  active  partici- 


XXX 


HISTORY  OF  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  CHICAGO. 


pation  in  the  movement.  However,  during  this  period  of  disinte¬ 
gration  a  new  thought  was  developing  and  new  lines  of  action 
projected.  State  Socialism,  which  heretofore  had  only  been  opposed 
by  the  friends  of  usury  and  plunder,  was  now  being  assailed 
through  the  columns  of  Liberty  by  Benjamin  R.  Tucker  and  his  able 
corps  of  writers  so  vigorously  that  those  readers  who  had  formerly 
defended  Government  control  were  fairly  stunned. 

In  1883  I  delivered  a  lecture  before  the  Liberal  League  of  Chi¬ 
cago  on  “Individualism  as  Contrasted  with  State  Socialism  in  the 
Solution  of  Social  and  Industrial  Problems.”  I  repudiated  my 
former  belief — State  Socialism — and  defended  competition  and  the 
institution  of  private  property.  The  only  reply  worthy  of  notice, 
from  one  of  the  State  Socialists,  was  that  I  was  a  renegade.  Joe 
Labadie,  of  Detroit,  renounced  State  Socialism  soon  after,  while 
Lizzie  M.  Swank  and  T.  F.  Hagerty,  who  tried  to  save  the  ship  of 
State  through  the  columns  of  the  Radical  Review,  found  their  craft 
sinking  from  the  fatal  attacks  of  the  pen  of  A.  H.  Simpson.  Johann 
Most  and  Paul  Grottkau  met  in  public  debate  on  the  same  subject, 
Most  making  the  claim  that  in  all  the  revolutions  of  the  past  the 
people  were  again  enslaved  through  subsequent  Parliamentary 
chicanery:  therefore  Parliament  must  be  abolished.  The  Pitts¬ 
burgh  convention,  the  resignation  of  Paul  Grottkau,  and  the  suc¬ 
cession  of  August  Spies  as  the  editor  of  the  Arbeiter-Zeitung  and 
the  founding  of  the  Alarm  were  events,  following  each  other  in 
rapid  succession,  manifesting  the  wonderful  activity  of  the  Revolu¬ 
tionary  Anarchists.  Parsons,  Spies,  and  Fielden  availed  themselves 
of  every  opportunity  and  before  every  society  to  disseminate  their 
doctrines,  whether  before  the  Liberal  League  or  the  Methodist 
ministry.  C.  C.  Post  informed  me,  one  day  in  the  winter  of  ’85, 
that  the  Wlest  Side  Philosophic  Society,  founded  by  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Thomas  and  composed  almost  exclusively  of  the  members  of  the 
People’s  Church,  had  on  their  program  Modern  Socialism,  and  they 
desired  the  presence  of  some  of  the  representatives  of  the  various 
Socialistic  schools.  Post  left  the  matter  with  me,  and  I  invited 
Parsons,  Spies,  and  A.  H.  Simpson.  Parsons  was  engaged  that 
night  and  could  not  go.  Judge  Boyles,  a  member  of  the  society, 


HISTORY  OF  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  CHICAGO. 


XXXI 


opened  the  discussion,  but  he  knew  no  more  about  Socialism  than  a 
Hottentot.  Our  participation  in  the  debate,  however,  created  such 
intense  interest  that  the  society  concluded  to  continue  the  subject  at 
its  next  meeting.  Parsons  accompanied  us  on  this  occasion,  and  I 
shall  never  forget  the  dramatic  and  tantalizing  speech  he  made. 
The  society  was  the  “elite”  of  the  West  Side.  Mr.  Dean,  its  Presi¬ 
dent,  is  a  millionaire  lumber  merchant;  Col.  Waterman — since 
elected  Judge — Judge  Boyles,  Dr.  Thomas,  and  other  Colonels,  Gen¬ 
erals,  Judges,  professors,  etc.,  with  their  wives  and  daughters, 
bedecked  with  fair  jewels  and  fine  raiment,  composed  our  audience. 
Parsons  spoke  last,  and  as  he  stepped  forward,  reviewing  for  a 
moment  in  silence  the  splendid  audience  before  him,  his  eye  gleamed 
with  triumph  and  his  face  wore  a  smile  of  supreme  satisfaction  at 
the  opportunity  afforded  him  of  indicting  the  “upper-tendom”  in 
their  own  presence.  After  cracking  a  few-  jokes  at  the  expense  of 
Judge  Boyles,  he  began  by  saying:  “I  am  not  in  the  habit  of  speak¬ 
ing  to  men  and  women  dressed  in  such  fine  raiment.  The  men  I 
speak  to  nightly  are  the  hard-fisted,  greasy  mechanics  and  laborers 
of  our  city,  with  the  smell  of  shavings  about  their  clothes.  They 
wear  no  broadcloth — their  constant  struggle  is  to  keep  the  wolf 
from  the  door.  The  women  I  speak  to  are  those  who  work  from 
ten  to  twelve  hours  daily  for  a  pittance,  and  must  be  satisfied  with 
an  ordinary  dress.  But  it  is  these  greasy  mechanics  and  these  poor 
women  that  weave  your  broadcloth,  your  silk  and  satin ;  that  shape 
into  form  your  costly  bonnets  and  feathers,  and  grind  into  exquisite 
beauty  and  shape  the  jewels  I  see  about  me,  but  which  they  cannot 
wear.”  With  these  preliminary  remarks  he  secured  the  closest 
attention  to  one  of  the  most  eloquent,  cutting,  and  defiant  speeches 
I  ever  heard.  Parsons  was  an  extraordinary  speaker  under  extra¬ 
ordinary  circumstances.  During  the  telegraphers’  strike  of  1883 
representatives  of  the  various  trades  unions  were  in  the  habit  of 
visiting  them  at  their  hall  to  encourage  them  with  speeches  and 
otherwise.  Parsons  and  I,  with  a  number  of  other  friends,  called 
on  them  one  night.  The  hall  was  packed.  Some  one  informed  the 
Chairman  that  Mr.  Parsons,  from  Typographical  Union  No.  16,  was 
in  the  room.  The  Chairman  called  on  him  to  address  the  meeting, 


XXX11 


HISTORY  OF  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  CHICAGO. 


and  as  he  stepped  forward  I  saw  by  the  flash  of  his  eye  that  an  elo¬ 
quent  address  was  in  store  for  the  audience.  He  began  by  referring 
to  the  close  affinity  between  the  men  and  women  who  manipulate 
the  keys  and  send  the  messages  across  the  wire  and  the  compositors 
who  receive  them  as  “copy”  and  put  them  into  print.  As  he  pro¬ 
ceeded  his  whole  soul  became  enveloped  with  the  fire  of  his  subject, 
and  like  a  torrent  sweeping  down  from  the  mountain  side,  carrying 
everything  before  it,  so  he  swept  down  on  that  American  audience 
of  1,200  men  and  women,  carrying  them  with  him  through  every 
impulse  of  his  ardent  nature.  It  would  be  impossible  to  attempt  an 
extended  reproduction  of  this  speech.  It  was  one  of  those  extraordi¬ 
nary  outbursts  of  eloquence  that  consumed  itself  in  its  own  fire, 
leaving  the  hearer  spell-bound  and  dazed  from  the  flash  of  its  light. 

When  the  eight-hour  movement  of  1886  began  to  be  interesting 
the  Revolutionary  Anarchists  did  not  take  to  it.  In  fact,  the  large 
majority  of  its  leaders  considered  it  as  a  sort  of  soothing  syrup  for 
babies,  but  of  no  consequence  to  grown  men.  With  Parsons  it  was 
a  different  thing.  He  had  been  the  student  of  the  philosophy  of 
Ira  Stewart  for  years,  and  was  one  of  a  few  men  who  understood 
the  full  import  of  reduced  hours.  He  believed  that  the  success  of 
the  eight-hour  movement  would,  if  conceded  by  employers,  con¬ 
stitute  the  bridge  over  which  humanity  could  march  toward  a  peace¬ 
ful  solution  of  the  problem.  The  charge  made  that  the  Revolu¬ 
tionary  Anarchists  only  used  the  eight-hour  movement  to  precipi¬ 
tate  a  violent  revolution  may  be  true  as  to  some;  if  so,  they  must 
have  been  insane ;  but  it  was  not  true  as  to  Parsons.  From  an  inter¬ 
view  of  March  13,  1886,  in  the  Chicago  Daily  News ,  I  make  the 

» 

following  extract: 

“The  movement,”  he  said,  “to  reduce  the  work-hours  is  intended  by  its 
projectors  to  give  a  peaceful  solution  to  the  difficulties  between  capitalists 
and  laborers.  I  have  always  held  that  there  were  two  ways  to  settle  this 
trouble — either  by  peaceable  or  violent  methods.  Reduced  hours — or  eight 
hours — is  a  peace-offering.  *  *  *  Fewer  hours  means  more  pay.  Re¬ 
duced  hours  is  the  only  measure  of  economic  reform  which  consults  the 
interest  of  laborers  as  consumers.  Now,  this  means  a  higher  standard  of 
living  for  the  producers,  which  can  only  be  acquired  by  possessing  and  con- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  CHICAGO. 


XXX111 


suming  a  larger  share  of  their  own  product.  This  would  diminish  the 
profits  of  the  labor  exploiters.” 

It  has  often  been  said  that  had  the  bomb  not  exploded  on  the 
Haymarket  the  eight-hour  movement  would  have  been  a  success. 
This  is  a  serious  mistake.  There  were  two  weak  points  connected 
with  the  movement,  either  one  of  which  was  fatal :  First,  the  dele¬ 
gates  to  the  Federation  of  Trades,  which  convened  in  Chicago  in 
October,  1885,  and  designated  May  1,  1886,  for  the  inauguration 
of  the  eight-hour  day,  returned  home,  after  passing  this  resolution 
and  went  to  sleep.  Boston,  Baltimore  and  Milwaukee  were  the 
only  cities  outside  of  Chicago’  in  which  there  was  any  serious 
attempt  to  demand  it.  Second,  the  March  circular  of  T.  V.  Pow- 
derly,  informing  the  Order  that  the  demand  to  establish  an  eight- 
hour  work-day  did  not  emanate  from  the  Knights  of  Labor,  but 
from  another  organization,  intimating  that  he  looked  on  the  move¬ 
ment  with  disfavor,  prevented  thousands  of  Knights  from  partici¬ 
pating.  But,  not  satisfied  with  impeding  its  progress  before  the  1st 
of  May,  he  declared  at  the  Richmond  General  Assembly  in  October 
that  “the  very  discussion  of  the  immediate  introduction  of  the 

• 

eight-hour  day  had  unsettled  business/'’  Armed  with  this  excerpt 
from  his  annual  address  the  Chicago  packers  determined  to  wrench 
from  their  employees  the  eight-hour  system  they  had  gained,  and  by 
the  aid  of  Powderly’s  subsequent  dispatch  ordering  a  surrender 
under  penalty  of  expulsion,  the  packers  succeeded  in  forcing  them 
back  to  ten  hours,  victimizing  their  leaders  and  disrupting  their  or¬ 
ganization. 

Oh,  shades  of  William  Lloyd  Garrison  and  Wendell  Phillips !  Oh, 
spirits  of  the  mighty  dead  of  all  ages  and  times,  who>  have  laid  your 
lives  on  the  altar  of  human  liberty,  and  lived  for  the  larger  freedom 
of  the  world,  where  would  have  been  its  progress  had  you  faltered 
in  your  work  because  it  might  have  “unsettled  business !” 

As  the  Haymarket  meeting,  the  explosion  of  the  bomb,  the 
escape  of  Parsons,  his  indictment  with  his  comrades  for  the  murder 
of  Mathias  J.  Degan,  his  voluntary  return,  trial,  conviction,  and 
execution,  with  all  its  extraordinary  incidents,  will  be  treated  quite 


XXXIV 


HISTORY  OF  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  CHICAGO. 


fully  by  his  wife  and  others,  I  will  leave  that  untouched  except  in 
one  or  two  minor  incidents. 

A.  R.  Parsons  joined  the  Knights  of  Labor  in  1877,  while  visiting 
Indianapolis,  Indiana,,  and  was  initiated  by  Calvin  A.  Light,  since 
deceased.  For  many  years  he  was  a  member  of  “old  400/’  the  first 
local  in  Chicago.  When  it  lapsed,  in  1885,  he  transferred  to  Local 
Assembly  1307,  of  which  he  was  a  member,  until  November  11,  1887. 

The  General  Assembly  of  the  Knights  of  Labor  at  Richmond  • 
passed  a  resolution  asking  mercy  for  the  condemned  Anarchists. 

The  prisoners,  particularly  Parsons,  who  was  the  only  member  of 
the  Order,  did  not  want  mercy,  but  justice.  A  year  later,  at  the 
General  Assembly  at  Minneapolis,  Minnesota,  the  time  having  arrived 
for  decisive  action,  James  E.  Quinn,  of  District  Assembly  49,  intro¬ 
duced  a  resolution  against  capital  punishment,  and  asked  that  the 
General  Assembly  take  steps  to  prevent,  if  possible,  the  execution  of 
the  Chicago  Anarchists.  P'owderly  ruled  it  out  of  order.  On  an 
appeal  from  the  decision  of  the  chair,  by  representative  Evans  of 
District  Assembly  3,  of  Pittsburgh,  the  entire  subject  became  a  matter 
for  discussion.  Powderly,  as  usual,  spoke  last,  and  made  a  bitter 
attack  on  the  condemned  men.  He  called  them  cowards ;  said  that 
Parsons  had  abused  him ;  that  he  had  documentary  evidence  from 
Gen.  W.  LI.  Parsons  establishing  their  guilt.  He  introduced  news¬ 
paper  articles,  notably  one  containing  a  purported  circular  of  Bur¬ 
nette  Haskell.  He  closed  his  lengthy  tirade  of  abuse  with  great 
flourish  and  emphasis,  declaring  that  if  the  General  Assembly  did  not 
stand  by  him  he  would  not  abide  by  its  decision ;  he  would  not  permit 
his  tongue  to  be  tied,  but  would  tell  all  he  knew.  By  this  he  gave  the 
delegates  to  understand  that  he  had  important  information  and  would 
turn  informer  if  he  was  not  sustained.  When  he  was  through  one  of 
his  automatic  dummies  moved  “the  previous  question”  thereby  pre¬ 
venting  any  explanation  of  the  Haskell  circular,  which  had  no  connec¬ 
tion  whatever  with  the  Anarchist  case.  Its  introduction  was  a  gross 
impropriety  and  was  merely  used  by  this  tricky  parliamentary  mount¬ 
ebank  as  a  means  of  arousing  the  passion  and  prejudice  of  the  General 
Assembly.  On  roll  call  52  members  voted  against  the  decision  of 
the  Chair,  he  being  sustained  by  a  large  majority.  Why  did  not 


HISTORY  OF  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  CHICAGO. 


XXXV 


Powderly  rule  the  subject  out  of  order  at  Richmond?  Was  it 
because  he  was  looking  for  an  increase  of  salary  to  $5,000  per 
annum  and  could  not  afford  to  oppose  District  Assembly  49,  with  its 
sixty-two  delegates  who  championed  the  resolution  for  clemency, 
and  whose  votes  he  needed  ?  Such  a  ruling  at  that  time  might  have 
“unsettled  business.” 

Hugh  Pentecost  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Kimball  had  the  courage  to 
protest  against  the  wholesale  execution  of  social  agitators,  though  it 
compelled  them  to  resign  their  pastorates  from  wealthy  and  influen¬ 
tial  congregations.  Col.  Robert  G.  Ingersoll,  the  infidel,  who  expects 
no  future  reward  for  magnanimous  conduct,  raised  his  voice  against 
the  execution  of  this  terrible  sentence,  regardless  of  the  wishes  of  his 
wealthy  clients. 

But  T.  V.  Powderly,  the  Christian,  worshiper  at  the  shrine  of 
the  lowly  Jesus,  said  Parsons  had  abused  him,  and  in  this  supreme 
hour,  when  he  might  have  manifested  a  small  share  of  his  Master’s 
love  and  forgiveness,  used  his  power  to  gratify  his  revenge. 

This  nth  of  November,  1887,  has  passed  into  history,  and  marks 
the  chief  tragedy,  of  the  closing  years  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
The  trial  of  Spies,  Parsons,  et  al.  is  over  and  the  verdict  of  the  jury 
executed,  but  the  trial  of  the  judgment  is  still  going  on.  Communi¬ 
ties  and  nations,  like  individuals,  are  sometimes  intoxicated  and  com¬ 
mit  deeds  they  are  ashamed  of  when  they  return  to  their  sober 
senses.  It  was  in  such  a  frenzy  of  revenge  that  this  nation  executed 
Mrs.  Suratt  at  the  close  of  the  War.  We  look  with  pride  at  our 
record  of  magnanimity  towards  Jefferson  Davis  and  his  associates,  but 
remember  only  in  shame  and  humiliation  the  execution  of  this 
woman.  I  was  only  a  boy  then,  but  it  seemed  as  if  I  could  see  the 
spirit  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  with  his  face  full  of  sorrow  and  pain, 
drop  a  tear  of  sympathy  and  regret  upon  her  bier.  The  sons  and 
daughters  of  Virginia  do  not  commemorate,  with  poetry  and  oratory, 
the  greatness  of  their  State  in  hanging  John  Brown.  In  the  history 
of  her  worthy  achievements  and  triumphs  this  event  has  no  page. 

Is  history  to  repeat  itself  in  the  Anarchist  case?  Will  humanity 
in  the  future,  when  looking  backward,  regard  their  execution  as  an 
evidence  of  the  barbarism  of  our  time?  But  aside  from  this,  what 


XXXVI 


HISTORY  OF  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  CHICAGO. 


will  be  its  influence  in  shaping  the  social  and  industrial  destiny  of 
mankind?  Will  it  hasten  or  delay  the  solution  of  those  vexed  prob¬ 
lems  of  capital  and  labor  which  confront  us?  Will  it  increase  the 
bitterness  already  existing  between  the  classes  until  each  approaches 
the  other  with*  malice  and  revenge,  or  will  it  hasten  the  time  of  an 
awakened  conscience  everywhere  to  deal  fairly  and  earnestly  with 
the  problems  of  the  hour?  Luther  and  the  Reformation  gave  us 
liberty  of  conscience,  breaking  the  chains  of  our  spiritual  slavery 
and  establishing  the  right  of  private  judgment;  Jefferson,  Paine, 
Franklin,  and  their  associates  gave  us  political  freedom ;  but  as 
neither  the  mind  nor  the  soul  can  be  truly  free  so  long  as  the  body 
is  chained  to  a  condition  of  industrial  dependence  or  slavery — which 
is  our  present  condition — it  therefore  devolves  upon  us  of  the  nine¬ 
teenth  century  to  solve  the  problem  of  industrial  freedom,  giving  to 
all  persons  free  opportunities  to  apply  all  their  faculties  and  powers 
to  the  natural  resources  about  them  for  their  own  wellbeing  and 
happiness.  Whether  this  can  be  accomplished  through  the  gradual 
and  peaceful  process  of  evolution,  or  whether  it  will  be  borne  through 
the  storm  and  stress  of  revolution,  will  depend  largely  upon  our 
ability  of  awakening  the  public  mind  from  its  apathy. 

We  are  living  in  an  age  of  universal  unrest.  The  spirit  of  doubt 
and  inquiry  is  sowing  the  seed  of  discontent  with  things  that  be. 
Institutions  hallowed  with  age  are  placed  on  trial.  The  justice  of 
grinding  little  children’s  bones  and  blood  and  life  into  gold  in  our 
modern  bastiles  of  labor,  so  that  a  few  might  riot  in  midnight  orgies 
is  being  questioned  by  some.  Landlords  and  users  are  being  de¬ 
nounced  as  parasites  whose  palaces  are  built  with  the  plunder,  broken 
hopes,  and  tears  of  the  common  people;  Government  itself  is 
charged  as  being  the  source  of  iniquity,  a  machine  through  which 
human  vultures  are  enabled  to  levy  tribute,  confer  privileges,  restrict 
the  freedom  of  trade,  and  through  diverse  ways  maintain  and  enforce 
a  system  of  legalized  plunder  and  fraud  against  their  fellowmen. 
Society  everywhere  is  in  a  state  of  perturbation,  each  revolution  of 
the  printing  press  but  intensifies  the  momentum  of  its  discontent. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT  IN  CHICAGO. 

Nothing  is  accepted  as  sacred  by  this  young  giant  of  modern 
clasm  that  does  not  consult  man's  happiness  here  and  now. 

“Goodness  is  alone  immortal, 

Evil  was  not  made  to  last.” 


XXXVll 

icono- 


Chicago,  February  26,  1889. 


PART  I. 


CHAPTER  I. 

ALBERT  R.  PARSONS’  ANCESTORS. 

Heroes  of  Two  Centuries  for  Religious  and  Political  Free¬ 
dom — Himself  the  Martyr  of  the  Nineteenth  Century  for 
Industrial  Liberty — Letter  from  a  Native  of  Newburyport, 
Mass. — New  England  Forefathers  Honorable  and  Heroic 
Men  of  Their  Time. 

A  descendant  of  New  England  parentage,  A.  R.  Parsons’  ancestors 
figured  conspicuously  in  the  seventeenth  century  in  the  contests  of 
religious  liberty  in  England,  and  on  the  second  voyage  of  the  May¬ 
flower  landed  on  the  stern  and  rock-bound  coast  of  New  England, 
having  found  what  they  sought  here — freedom  to  “worship  God  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  dictates  of  their  own  conscience.” 

In  the  eighteenth  century  they  were  conspicuous  in  the  struggle 
for  political  liberty.  The  Rev.  Jonathan  Parsons,*  of  Newburyport, 
Mass.,  the  Whitfield  of  the  time,  preached  a  war  sermon  against 
British  tyranny  from  his  pulpit,  and  raised  a  company  in  the 
aisles  of  his  church,  which  marched  to  the  trenches  of  Bunker 
Hill;  there  a  grand-uncle  of  Albert  lost  an  arm  in  the  first  battle  of 
the  Revolution.  Maj.-Gen.  Samuel  Parsons,  after  whom  Albert’s 
father  was  named,  served  in  the  New  England  division  of  the  Revo¬ 
lutionary  army. 

On  his  maternal  side,  his  great-grandfather  Tompkins  was  a 
trooper  in  Washington’s  body  guard — served  under  him  at  Trenton, 
Brandywine,  and  Monmouth,  shared  the  winter  horrors  at  Valley 


*This  is  the  “Uncle  Jonathan”  whom  America  makes  its  patron  saint. 


1 


2 


VIEWS  OF  GENERAL  PARSONS. 


Forge,  and  assisted  in  the  repulse  of  the  Hessians  from  the  New 
Jersey  towns. 

His  ancestors  having  proved  their  devotion  to  religious  and 
political  freedom  in  the  two  preceding  centuries,  Albert  R.  Par¬ 
sons  may  be  characterized  as  a  devotee  to  the  cause  of  industrial 
freedom  in  the  nineteenth  century. 

— Written  by  Gen.  W.  H.  Parsons ,  his  brother. 

VIEWS  OF  GENERAL  PARSONS. 

Norfolk,  Va.,  Sept.  16. — Gen.  W.  H.  Parsons,  the  eldest  brother 
of  A.  R.  Parsons,  the  condemned  anarchist,  was  interviewed  today  by 
your  correspondent  at  Newport  News,  where  he  holds  the  position  of 
inspector  of  customs  and  is  much  respected  for  his  scholarly  attain¬ 
ments  and  his  high-toned  deportment.  The  general  has  been  much 
averse  to  being  interviewed  and  until  the  present  has  declined  to  con¬ 
verse  with  reporters  on  the  subject  of  his  brother’s  sentence.  On 
being  asked  to  give  a  brief  outline  of  the  life  of  A.  R.  Parsons  he 
said : 

“A.  R.  Parsons  was  born  in  Montgomery,  Ala.,  June  20,  1848, 
and  is,  therefore,  just  39  years  of  age.  He  is  of  pilgrim-father  par¬ 
entage,  his  ancestors — five  brothers — landing  together  in  1632  on 
Narragansett  Bay,  and  their  descendants  of  that  name,  according  to 
John  Mason  of  Virginia,  who  cites  the  authority  of  Berknap’s  “His¬ 
tory  of  New  England,”  were  proverbial  for  good  scholarship  and 
honorable  character.  Gen.  Samuel  Parsons,  from  whom  Albert’s 
father  was  named,  was  a  major-general  of  the  revolutionary  war,  and 
his  grand-uncle  of  the  same  name  lost  an  arm  in  the  battle  of  Bunker 

Hill.  Theophilus  Parsons,  the  judicial  author,  was  the  pivot  of  the 

_  * 

law,  not  only  of  New  England  but  of  American  jurisprudence  in  his 
day.  It  has  been  the  boast  of  all  of  that  name  in  all  lands  and  states 
that  no  one  who  bore  it  was  ever  convicted  or  justly  charged  with  a 
felonious  offense. 

“Albert  R.  Parsons,  the  accused  anarchist,  is  not  an  exception. 
He  is  a  political  offender,  and  not  a  criminal.  We  assert  this,  because 
the  incidents  of  his  biography,  upon  which  you  interrogate  me,  will 
demonstrate  this.  His  father  moved  to  Alabama  in  1830.  A.  R.  Par- 


VIEWS  OF  GENERAL  PARSONS. 


3 


sons  was  left  an  orphan  at  4  years  of  age  and  joined  my  family  in 
Tyler,  Tex.,  where  I  was  at  that  time  conducting  the  Tyler  Telegraph 
as  owner  and  editor.  At  12  years  of  age  he  entered  the  Galveston 
News  office  and  became  a  member  of  the  family  of  its  founder  and 
proprietor,  the  venerable  Willard  Richardson,  to  learn  the  art  pre¬ 
servative  of  all  arts,  of  which  profession  and  the  Typographical 
Union  he  is  now  a  member  of  high  standing  as  well  as  a  journalist  of 
ripe  experience,  and  was  at  the  period  of  his  arrest  as  accessory  to 
the  tragedy  of  May  4,  1886.” 

“Will  you  give  his  career  during  and  since  the  war?” 

“When  the  war  broke  out  he  was  only  13  years  old,  but  he  joined 
a  confederate  infantry  company  called  the  Lone  Star  Grays.  He  was 
with  them  over  a  year  and  assisted  in  the  capture  of  Gen.  Twiggs. 
He  joined  an  artillery  company  at  Sabine  Pass  under  his  brother, 
Capt.  Richard  Parsons,  who  died  at  his  post,  of  yellow  fever.  A.  R. 
Parsons  then  attached  himself  to  his  elder  brother’s  brigade — my 
own — on  the  west  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  in  Arkansas,  and  became  a 
cavalry  scout,  graduating  after  four  years  service  at  17  years  of  age. 

“He  edited  the  Waco  Spectator  in  1868.  His  marriage  to  a  Mexi¬ 
can  lady  of  youth,  beauty  and  genius  occurred  in  Austin,  Texas,  in 
1871,  and  is  a  matter  of  record  in  that  city,  where  miscegenation  is  a 
crime.  Her  Spanish  and  Aztec  blood  were  then  never  questioned. 
She  speaks  the  former  language  fluently,  and  was  raised  an  orphan 
by  her  uncle,  a  Mexican  ranchero,  and  lived  with  him  in  Johnson 
county,  Texas,  until  the  date  of  her  marriage.  By  her  A.  R.  Parsons 
has  two  children,  a  boy  and  girl,  aged  8  and  7  respectively,  the  latter 
a  rare  beauty  and  inheriting  the  vivacity  of  her  mother.  In  1870  he 
was  elected  secretary  of  the  Texas  senate,  and  the  following  year  was 
appointed  a  deputy  United  States  internal  revenue  collector.  He  held 
this  office  until  he  went  to  Chicago  in  1873,  when  he  resumed  his 
trade  as  a  compositor  on  the  Times. 

“In  1876  he  joined  the  socialists.  During  the  labor  troubles  of 
the  following  year  he  was  held  by  the  chief  of  police  for  a  speech  he 
had  made  to  20,000  laboring  men  at  the  Market  Square,  but  was  re¬ 
leased  the  same  night.  He  has  been  a  compositor  on  the  Inter-Ocean 
and  the  Daily  News.  For  three  years  he  filled  the  position  of  presi¬ 
dent  of  the  trade  and  labor  association.  He  has  been  nominated  for 


4 


VIEWS  OF  GENERAL  PARSONS. 


alderman  three  times,  for  congress  twice,  and  once  each  for  sheriff 
and  county  clerk.  At  the  national  convention  of  the  socialistic  labor 
party,  held  at  Allegheny,  P'a.,  in  1879,  he  was  nominated  as  the  can¬ 
didate  for  president  of  the  United  States.  At  the  time  of  his  volun¬ 
tary  surrender  to  the  court  he  was  editor  of  the  Alarm” 

“Will  you  give  his  disposition  and  any  proof  of  his  aversion  to 
violence  or  any  words  cautioning  others  against  inflicting  injury  to 
persons  or  property 

“A.  R.  Parsons  is  a  philosophical  anarchist  and  claims  the  gift  of 
prophecy.  Pie  has  never  counseled  revolution,  but  has  prophesied 
revolution.  In  the  prophetic  words  addressed  to  Mr.  T.  V.  Pow- 
derly  from  the  Chicago  bastile,  July  4,  1886,  he  said: 

“  ‘Whether  we  live  or  whether  we  die  the  social  revolution  is  inevi¬ 
table.  The  boundaries  of  human  freedom  must  be  enlarged  and 
widened.  The  seventeenth  century  was  a  struggle  for  religious  lib¬ 
erty  ;  the  eighteenth  for  political  equality,  and  in  the  nineteenth  cen¬ 
tury  mankind  is  demanding  economic  or  industrial  freedom'.  The 
fruition  of  this  struggle  means  the  social  revolution.  We  see  it  com¬ 
ing;  we  predict  it ;  we  hail  it  with  joy.  Are  we  criminals  for  that?’  ” 

“As  I  am  myself  an  old  time,  original  Jeffersonian  democrat,  be¬ 
lieving  that  all  power  where  not  expressly  delegated  to  the  state,  is 
inherently  in  the  people  and  not  in  corporations,  and  that  the  ballot  is 
the  sole  and  final  arbiter  of  any  existing  grievances,  I  frequently  ex¬ 
postulated  with  him  on  the  idea  involved  in  the  word  anarchy.  His 
invariable  reply  to  me,  with  the  bars  between  us  and  the  shadow  of 
the  scaffold  impending  above  him,  was : 

“  ‘I  am  not  a  revolutionist,  for  all  revolutions  are  not  made  by 
agitators  and  prophets.  They  are  the  creatures  of  wrongs  inflicted 
by  the  privileged  few  and  their  tools  and  agencies,  the  law-maker, 
the  courts,  and  the  executive  force  whether  a  pliant  proletarian  guard 
called  police,  or  the  new  organized  reserves  of  the  police,  known  as 
our  militia.  I  do  not  seek  to  make  revolution.  We  simply  see  it 
coming;  we  predict  it.  Am  I  a  criminal  for  that?  Who  dreamed 
among  the  masses  of  events  of  1861-5?  I  now  prophesy  the  down¬ 
fall  of  wage  slavery  or  the  wage-slavery  systenl  and  its  replacement 
by  the  principle  of  co-operation  and  association  between  labor  and 
capital.  As  I  witnessed  the  overthrow  of  chattel  slavery  and  now 


VIEWS  OF  GENERAL  PARSONS. 


5 


recognize  the  divinity  which  shaped  that  stupendous  result,  SO'  I  see 
that  hand  in  the  events,  by  no  means  circumscribed,  now  impending 
over  my  native  land  as  well  as  over  Europe — the  emancipation  of 
my  own  class.  Every  government,  including  our  own  as  now  or¬ 
ganized,  is  a  conspiracy  to  enslave  labor  whether  of  the  hand  or 
brain.  Coercion  is  the  basis  of  this  conspiracy,  and  hence  we  would 
overthrow  all  existing  law  which  fosters  and  maintains  it.  Labor 
will  fight,  but  will  only  fight  in  self-defense.  The  universal  depres¬ 
sion  and  suffering  and  pauperism  in  Europe,  as  well  as  America,  is 
the  source  of  discontent  and  unrest  and  is  fomenting  a  political  cy¬ 
clone.’  ” 

“To  these  views  frequently  expressed  when  pressed  for  his  pur¬ 
pose,  I  would  interpose  the  plea  that  the  people  would  yet  administer 
the  corrective  for  existing  evils  through  the  machinery  of  the  ballot, 
as  this  was  a  free  representative  government,  and  we  could  not  im¬ 
prove  upon  its  form  as  a  medium  for  the  expression  of  the  popular 
will.  To  this  he  would  invariably  reply,  ‘the  people  will  attempt  to 
apply  the  corrective  through  the  ballot  and  will  measurably  succeed 
so  far  as  form  is  concerned ;  but,’  he  would  add,  ‘the  vested  wrongs 
of  the  privileged  class,  although  in  the  hands  of  a  very  meager 
minority,  will  never  be  relinquished  without  coercion,  as  witness  our 
late  civil  war.  This  meager  minority  will  rebel  against  the  voice  and 
vote  of  the  majority  of  the  people  constitutionally  expressed.  They 
have  the  example  of  a  wealthy  few  in  Rome  who  organized  a  mer¬ 
cenary  praetorian  guard  of  10,000  policemen  to  overawe  the  un¬ 
armed  populace  of  the  capital  and  held  in  their  pay  the  rival  legions 
recruited  from  the  plebeian  classes.  Here  is  where  and  when  the 
future  revolution  will  be  inaugurated.  This  plutocracy  will  rebel 
against  the  democratic  and  republican  masses  and  recruit  their  mer¬ 
cenary  police  and  praetorian  guards  from  the  very  ranks  of  the  men 
who  will  spoliate  on  both  classes.’  ” 

“That  is  anarchy  as  taught  and  understood  by  A.  R.  Parsons.  I 
often  pressed  him  for  an  exposition  of  the  term  anarchism  as  meant 
and  believed  by  him.  He  invariably  replied  in  substance  that  the 
meaning  of  philosophical  anarchism  was  the  very  antipodes  of  an¬ 
archy  as  defined  and  understood  by  capitalism;  that  Webster’s  dic¬ 
tionary  gave  two  meanings — one,  without  rulers  or  governors ;  and 


6 


Views  of  general  parsons. 


the  other,  disorder  and  confusion.  The  latter  he  defined  as  capital¬ 
istic  anarchy,  such  as  was  now  witnessed,  he  said,  in  all  parts  of  the 
world,  in  all  conditions  of  society  below  the  privileged  classes  which 
had  already  absorbed  and\  monopolized  all  the  opportunities  of  life 
and  the  means  of  existence,  except  merely  to  exist. 

“To  be  without  rulers  and  governors  invested  with  authority  to 
dictate  to  others  against  their  will  and  interests,  he  would  say,  ‘is 
philosophical  anarchism,  and  the  state  of  society  which  the  church  is 
constantly  prognosticating  will  usher  in  the  millennial  period  when  all 
governments  will  be  abolished  and  the  principles  of  Christ,  as  taught 
by  him  of  the  brotherhood  of  man  and  the  supreme  fatherhood  of  the 
Creator,  will  be  established.  Man  is  the  agency  through  whom  this 
result  will  be  achieved,  as  God  works  alone  by  such  agencies ;  and, 
as  without  the  shedding  of  blood  there  is  no  remission  of  sins,  I  be¬ 
lieve  that  the  anarchism  of  the  millennium,  when  there  will  be  but  one 
invisible  ruler  and  all  human  governments  overthrown,  will  be  ush¬ 
ered  in  by  the  most  stupendous  and  bloody  revolution  in  the  annals  of 
time.  Is  it  criminal  to  report  the  prophecy  of  the  seers  and  inspired 
men  of  the  sacred  oracles  ?  Am  I  to  be  executed  for  predicting  that 
the  period  when  no  ruler  or  law  save  the  spirit  of  the  Nazarene 
teacher  of  good-will  on  earth  and  peace  to  all  men  as  the  fruit  of  the 
golden  rule  of  the  then  common  brotherhood  of  man  is  soon  to  be 
inaugurated?  Then  incarcerate  the  incumbents  of  our  pulpits,  and 
again,  as  of  yore,  stone  the  prophets ;  for  so  stone  they  the  prophets, 
even  among  his  chosen  people,  when  sent  to  warn  them  of  judgment 
to  come.’  ” 

“What  was  his  action  at  the  meeting  at  which  the  bomb  was 
thrown  ?” 

“There  is  no  pretense  that  A.  R.  Parsons  or  that  any  one  of  the 
defendants  threw  or  even  knew  of  the  throwing  of  the  fatal  bomb. 
They  are  all  condemned  as  supposed,  although  not  proven,  acces¬ 
sories,  for  there  can  be  no  accessories  without  a  principal,  and  there 
was  not  even  an  attempt  to  prove  who  the  principal  was.  He  yet  re¬ 
mains  unknown,  the  circumstantial  evidence  much  more  strongly 
pointing  to  an  agent  of  the  stock  exchanges  through  Pinkerton’s 
mercenaries  to  break  up  the  eight-hour  movement  by  charging  the 
offense  on  the  leaders  of  that  movement  in  Chicago  than  to  these  de- 


Views  of  general  parsons. 


7 


fendants.  The  New  York  Times  advised  that  very  course  to  involve 
the  leaders  and  thus  break  down  the  eight-hour  movement  which  was 
then  sustained  by  335, oco  men.  A.  R.  Parsons  rehearsed  on  the  trial 
his  Haymarket  speech,  and  it  is  of  record.  It  was  a  strong,  statistical, 
philosophical  argument.  At  its  conclusion  Capt.  Black,  counsel  for 
the  defense,  asked:  ‘When  you  were  referring  in  your  speech  to  Jay 
Gould  or  to  the  southwestern  system  do  you  remember  any  inter¬ 
ruption  from  the  crowd  or  any  response  ?’  to  which  A.  R.  replied : 
‘Yes,  I  omitted  that  in  rehearsing  my  speech  before  the  court  just 
concluded.  Some  one  said :  “Hlang  him !  hang  Gould !”  My  re¬ 
sponse  to  that  was  that  it  was  not  a  conflict  between  individuals,  but 
for  a  change  of  system,  and  that  socialism  designed  to  remove  the 
cause  which  produced  the  pauper  and  the  millionaire,  but  did  not  aim 
at  the  life  of  individuals.’  ” 

“Reporter  English  of  the  Chicago  Tribune  and  several  other  re¬ 
porters  present  corroborated  this  statement.  In  fact  it  was  originally 
drawn  out  of  the  reporters  present  before  A.  R.  Parsons  took  the 
stand.  It  was  proven  by  ten  witnesses  that  A.  R.  Parsons  was  in 
Zepf’s  hall,  at  the  corner  of  Randolph  and  Desplaines  streets,  when 
the  shell  exploded,  and  yet  he  is  condemned  to  death  for  having  in¬ 
cited  some  one  to  throw  the  fatal  bomb.  It  was  proven  that  Lingg 
was  two  and  a  half  miles  away  on  Clybourn  avenue  at  that  hour ;  that 
Schwab  was  speaking  elsewhere,  seven  miles  distant ;  that  Engel  was 
with  his  family  at  home;  that  Neebe  was  not  even  present,  and  knew 
nothing  of  the  meeting ;  that  Parsons  had  finished  and  left  the  ground 
with  his  family,  and  that  the  only  two  of  the  eight  present  were 
Fielden  and  Spies,  and  they  were  on  the  speakers’  stand  when  at¬ 
tacked  and  ordered  to  disperse  by  200  armed  policemen.” 

“Is  it  true  he  voluntarily  surrendered?” 

“It  is  true  that  conscious  of  his  innocence,  A.  R.  Parsons  volun¬ 
tarily  came  into  open  court  on  the  first  day  of  the  trial  and  took  his 
seat  with  the  accused  defendants  at  a  time  when  the  inflamed 
prejudices  of  the  police  rendered  it  doubtful  if  justice  could  be 
rendered  with  the  entire  machinery  of  the  law  in  their  hands.  This 
act  tended  largely  to  disarm  the  hostility  of  disinterested  men  who 
believed  in  fair  play,  and  that  justice  should  be  done  though  the 
heavens  fall.” 


8 


VIEWS  OF  GENERAL  PARSONS. 


“Will  the  case,  in  vour  judgment,  be  called  to.  the  United  States 
supreme  court,  and  on  what  grounds?” 

“It  will;  first,  because  under  the  sixth  amendment  of  the  federal 
constitution  it  is  provided  that  in  all  criminal  prosecutions  the  ac¬ 
cused  shall  enjoy  the  right  to  a  trial  by  an  impartial  jury  of  the  state 
and  district  where  the  crime  shall  have  been  committed.  The 
fifteenth  amendment  provides  that  no  state  shall  deprive  any  person 
of  life,  liberty,  or  property  without  due  process  of  law.  If  these  men 
are  executed  the  state  of  Illinois,  through  its  courts,  will  have  exe¬ 
cuted  seven  men  without  the  due  process  provided  and  guaranteed 
by  the  constitution,  which  is  the  supreme  law  and  which  accords  to 
the  accused  a  trial  by  an  impartial  jury.  It  was  proved  on  the  trial 
that  the  special  bailiff,  Henry  L.  Ryce,  who  was  appointed  to  serve 
the  special  venire,  said  to  Otis  S.  Favor,  a  reputable  merchant  in 
Chicago,  that  he  was  managing  the  case  against  the  accused  and 
knew  what  he  was  about,  and  that  the  accused  would  hang  as  cer¬ 
tain  as  death.  T  am  calling  such  men  as  the  defendants  will  have  to 
challenge  and  so  waste  their  challenges,’  he  said.  This  was  made  a 
special  ground  for  a  new  trial,  although  Judge  Gary  had  refused  the 
defendants  the  privilege  to  introduce  Mr.  Otis  Favor  to  prove  that 
the  bailiff  acknowledged  with  a  chuckle  that  he  was  packing  the  jury 
so  that  it  would  not  be  impartial.  Juryman  Adams  admitted  before 
the  trial  that  if  he  was  on  the  jury  he  would  hang  all  of  them.  This 
was  proved.  Juror  Denker  stated  to  two  credible  witnesses  before 

the  trial  that  the  whole  d - d  crowd  ought  to  be  hanged.  Several 

of  the  jurors,  who  can  be  named,  as  they  are  all  of  record,  admitted 
that  they  were  prejudiced  so  that  it  would  take  strong  evidence  to 
overcome  their  already  predetermined  judgment  of  their  guilt.  On 
this  statement  of  record  the  fourteenth  amendment  can  be  invoked 
and  a  writ  of  error  must  issue  overruling  the  action  of  a  state  court, 
which  has  doomed  seven  men  to  death,  having  denied  them  an  im¬ 
partial  trial,  as  required  by  the  fourteenth  amendment  of  the  consti¬ 
tution.  Their  death  would  be  judicial  murder.  Such  would  be  the 
sentence  of  mankind  and  the  verdict  of  history. 

“2.  There  is  a  precedent  from  Missouri  where  a  writ  of  error 
was  for  review  by  the  United  States  supreme  court  on  the  ground 
that  the  evidence  was  obtained  by  unlawful  search  and  seizure,  and  a 


VIEWS  OF  GENERAL  PARSONS. 


9 


violation  of  the  sanctity  of  letters  unlawfully  seized.  A  letter  to  Mr. 
Spies,  written  a  year  before  the  trial,  was  seized,  after  breaking  open 
his  private  editorial  desk,  and  was  permitted  to  be  read  on  the  trial  by 
Judge  Gary,  the  purpose  of  which  was  to  show  he  had  received — not 
answered — a  letter  from  Herr  Most  about  medicine  that  was  good  for 
the  relief  of  the  Hocking  valley  strikers  of  1885.  Evidence  obtained 
by  a  violation  of  such  safeguards  to  the  citizen  is  a  violation  of  all 
rights  guaranteed  by  the  constitution.  Of  course,  where  courts  are 
now  constituted  to  protect  vested  wrongs  in  many  cases,  as  witness 
Justice  Field’s  decisions  in  California  in  favor  of  the  Chinese  and  in 
protection  of  Senator  Stanford  against  the  Pacific  commission,  there 
is  no  way  to  estimate  the  result  of  even  an  application  for  a  writ  of 
error  in  this  case.  It  may  be  that  blood  is  what  is  wanted  and  blood 
they  must  have,  and  thus  verify  the  saying  that  ‘whom  the  gods 
would  destroy  they  first  make  mad.’  ” 

“What  is  your  own  history  and  political  status  ?” 

“I  have  held  positions  of  honor  under  three  governors  and  two 
presidents.  I  was  on  the  supreme  court  bench,  a  member  of  the 
United  States  centennial  commission,  was  state  senator,  was  in  the 
Charleston  convention  of  i860,  and  commanded  an  active  cavalry 
brigade  in  the  confederate  service  throughout  the  war.  I  am  a  Jef¬ 
fersonian  democrat  and  believe  the  ballot  will  yet  redeem  the  nation.” 
— Correspondence  Daily  News. 

LETTER  FROM  A  NATIVE  OF  NEWBURYPORT,  MASS. 

10  Poland  Street,  W.  London,  October  8,  1887. 
Fellow  Craftsman: 

*  *  *  We  had  a  packed  meeting  at  the  Club  in  Tottenham 

street  last  evening — not  packed  with  police  spies  and  disturbers,  as 
attempted,  but  with  your  devoted  friends  and  admirers  from  every 
country  of  the  so-called  civilized  world ;  that  is,  from  that  portion  of 
our  insignificant  little  globe  where  Adam  Smith  is  Brahma,  Vishnu, 
Mahomet,  Christ  and  King.  On  last  evening  we  had  the  honor  of 
lining  Cleveland  street  near  at  hand  from  end  to  end  with  police  and 
constables,  while  as  many  as  could  conveniently  stand  about  the  place 


IO 


VIEWS  OF  GENERAL  PARSONS. 


were  assembled  at  the  Club  door.  This  is  all  excellent  advertise¬ 
ment  for  the  meeting  on  Friday  next  at  Finsbury  Chapel.  Mr.  Mon¬ 
cure  Conway’s  favorite  forum  is  just  a  few  yards  inside  the  boun¬ 
dary  of  the  city,  so  we  have  the  myrmidons  of  the  Lord  Mayor  to 
deal  with.  They  treat  us  more  gingerly,  I  assure  you,  than  the  met¬ 
ropolitan  force,  not  wishing  any  bobbery  in  such  perilous  proximity 
to  the  Old  Lady  of  Threadneedle  Street  and  the  sacred  seclusion  of 
Chapel  Court.  As  I  have  not  the  least  doubt  that  your  treatment  all 
along  has  depended  on  direct  orders  from  the  latter  almighty  strong¬ 
hold,  I  have  high  hopes  of  the  effect  of  next  Friday’s  meeting.  I 
have  never  from  the  first  believed  that  at  the  last  moment  they  will 
dare  murder  you. 

Seymour  has  given  me  a  copy  of  a  paper  containing  your 
brother’s  statement.  In  this  I  was  peculiarly  interested,  with  good 
reason.  You  can  understand  this  when  I  tell  you  that  I  am  a  New 
Englander,  from  the  old  town  of  Newburyport,  where  we  are  pretty 
stiffnecked  hypercritical ;  but  we  have  some  names  we  hold  in  rever¬ 
ence.  Although  Hale,  Ling,  Lowell,  Longfellow,  Lund,  Perkins, 
Sewall,  Webster,  Wheelright,  Whittier  are  but  a  few  of  the  families 
made  illustrious  by  our  noble  sons — although  more  than  half  of  the 
great  Yankee  race,  north  and  south,  east  and  west,  has  our  immediate 
blood  m  its  veins — although  our  town  is  the  parent  Puritan  settle¬ 
ment  of  northern  Massachusetts  and  the  three  northern  New  Eng¬ 
land  states — I  can  safely  say  that  all  our  revered  names  pale  beside 
that  which  you  yourself  bear.  We  can  never  forget  that  in  the 
glorious  old  church  still  standing,  in  the  shadow  of  which  William 
Lloyd  Garrison  was  born,  in  which  Cable  Cushing  made  his  spiritual 

home,  beneath  the  pulpit  of  which  still  lies  as  in  life,  his  countenance 

0 

embalmed  in  tranquil  majesty,  the  greatest  preacher  in  the  tide  of 
time — it  was  in  this  church  that  old  Jonathan  Parsons,  its  pastor, 
preacher  only  second  to  Whitfield  himself  in  fiery  eloquence  and  far 
beyond  him  in  every  other  attainment,  where  old  liberty-loving  Jona¬ 
than  delivered  that  soul-stirring  harangue  against  British  tyranny, 
so  often  told  in  song  and  story,  which  caused  electrified  parishioners 
to  spring  from  their  seats,  and  then  and  there  in  the  broad  aisles  to 
muster  a  company  which  shed  some  of  its  best  blood  on  the  hill- 


VIEWS  OF  GENERAL  PARSONS. 


II 


tops  of  Charleston  and  beneath  the  snow-clad  citadels  of  Canada. 
More  than  this,  no  true-born  son  of  Newburyport  ever  forgets  that 
the  greatest,  most  learned,  the  most  upright  and  fearless  judge  whom 
history  notes  was  our  townsman ;  to  his  shrine  came  the  young  legal 
aspirants,  who  afterward  molded  the  American  Union,  and  all  that 
is  best  and  most  lasting  in  its  laws  and  precedents.  Among  such 
disciples  at  the  inexhaustible  fount  of  Theophilus  Parsons  was  one 
of  the  most  accomplished  of  the  Presidents  of  the  United  States. 

Ah,  my  dear  friend !  Your  life  is  under  the  obligation  of  sus¬ 
taining  the  unsmirched  record  of  a  noble  name.  The  famous  men 
who  have  borne  it,  whether  preachers,  teachers,  jurists,  statesmen, 
or  soldiers,  have,  according  to  their  age  and  knowledge,  been  ever  on 
the  side  of  truth  and  justice.  I  make  no  doubt  you  will  do  nothing  to 
detract  from  this  record.  Though  I  cannot  flatter,  I  will  have  the 
honest  justice  to  say  now  to  you,  perhaps  on  the  brink  of  death,  that 
should  the  infamous  crime  of  your  assassination  be  accomplished,  I 
will  bear  testimony  to  our  fellowmen  that  you  were  not  the  least  of 
those  who  have  borne  your  name. 

We  are  all  the  creatures  of  circumstances.  No  man  can  make  him¬ 
self  a  hero;  events  may  make  him  one,  provided  he  is  made  of  the 
stuff  to  bear  the  strain.  Events  have  placed  you  on  the  apex  of 
eternal  fame ;  so  far  you  have  never  faltered  from  the  trying  test.  I 
know  you  will  continue  to  honor  us  who  have  had  the  happy  fortune 
to  honor  you. 

Whether  you  live  or  die,  be  assured  of  the  highest  esteem  of 

Yours  fraternally, 

Lathrop  Withington. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  STORY  OF  HIS  LIFE. 

Parsons'  Ancestors  in  America — Early  Life  in  Texas — In  the 
Southern  Army — “The  Spectator" — He  Falls  in  Love — 
Leaves  Texas  and  Settles  in  Chicago — Becomes  Interested 
in  the  Labor  Movement — The  Great  Strike  of  1877 — Dis¬ 
charged,  Blacklisted,  and  Threatened — Forcibly  Ejected 
from  the  “Tribune"  Composing  Room — Joins  the  Knights 
of  Labor — The  Trades  Assembly — “The  Socialist" — The 
Workingmen's  Military  Organizations — The  Disarma¬ 
ment — Workingmen  Abjure  Political  Methods  to  Right 
Economic  Wrongs — The  Pittsburgh  Manifesto — “The 
Alarm" — The  International  Supports  the  Eight-Hour 
Movement — The  Unequal  Struggle  of  Persons  vs.  Prop¬ 
erty. 

Albert  R.  Parsons  was  born  in  the  city  of  Montgomery,  Ala.,  June 
20,  1848.  My  father,  Samuel  Parsons,  was  from  the  State  of  Maine, 
and  he  married  into  the  Tompkins-Broadwell  family,  of  New  Jersey, 
and  settled  in  Alabama  at  an  early  day,  where  he  afterward  estab¬ 
lished  a  shoe  and  leather  factory  in  the  city  of  Montgomery.  My 
father  was  noted  as  a  public-spirited,  philanthropic  man.  He  was  a 
Universalist  in  religion  and  held  the  highest  office  in  the  temperance 
movement  of  Louisiana  and  Alabama.  My  mother  was  a  devout 
Methodist,  of  great  spirituality  of  character,  and  known  far  and  near 
as  an  intelligent  and  truly  good  woman.  I  had  nine  brothers  and 
sisters.  My  ancestry  goes  back  to  the  earliest  settlers  of  this  country, 
the  first  Parsons  family  landing  on  the  shores  of  Narragansett 
Bay  from  England,  in  1632.  The  Parsons  family  and  their  descen¬ 
dants  have  taken  an  active  and  useful  part  in  all  the  social,  religious, 
political  and  revolutionary  movements  in  America.  One  of  the 


12 


A.  R.  PARSONS*  AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 


13 


Tompkinses,  on  my  mother’s  side,  was  with  Gen.  George  Washing¬ 
ton  at  the  battles  of  Brandywine,  Monmouth,  and  Valley  Forge. 
Maj.-Gen.  Samuel.  Parsons,  of  Massachusetts,  my  direct  ancestor, 
was  an  officer  in  the  Revolution  of  1776,  and  Capt.  Parsons  was 
wounded  at  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill.  There  are  over  90,000  de¬ 
scendants  from  the  original  Parsons  family  in  the  United  States. 

My  mother  died  when  I  was  not  yet  2  years  old,  and  my  father 
died  when  I  was  5  years  of  age.  Shortly  after  this  my  eldest 
brother,  William  Henry  Parsons,  who  had  married  and  was  then 
living  at  Tyler,  Tex.,  became  my  guardian.  He  was  proprietor  and 
editor  of  the  Tyler  Telegraph ;  that  was  in  i85i-’52-’53.  Two  years 
later  our  family  moved  west  to  Johnson  county,  on  the  Texas  fron¬ 
tier,  while  the  buffalo,  antelope,  and  Indian  were  in  that  region. 
Here  we  lived,  on  a  range,  for  about  three  years,  when  we  moved  to 
Hill  county  and  took  up  a  farm  in  the  valley  of  the  Brazos  river. 
My  frontier  life  had  accustomed  me  to  the  use  of  the  rifle  and  the 
pistol,  to  hunting  and  riding,  and  in  these  matters  I  was  considered 
quite  an  expert.  At  that  time  our  neighbors  did  not  live  near 
enough  to  hear  each  other’s  dog  bark  or  the  cocks  crow.  It  was 
often  five  to  ten  or  fifteen  miles  to  the  next  house.  In  1859  I  went 
to  Waco,  Tex.,  where,  after  living  with  my  sister  (the  wife  of  Maj. 
Bird),  and  going  to  school,  meantime,  for  about  a  year,  I  was  in¬ 
dentured  an  apprentice  to  the  Galveston  Daily  News  for  seven  years 
to  learn  the  printer’s  trade.  Entering  upon  my  duties  as  a  “printer’s 
devil,”  I  also  became  a  paper  carrier  for  the  Daily  News,  and  in  a 
year  and  a  half  was  transformed  from  a  frontier  boy  into  a  city 
civilian.  When  the  slave-holder’s  Rebellion  broke  out,  in  1861, 
though  quite  small  and  but  13  years  old,  I  joined  a  local  volunteer 
military  company  called  the  “Lone  Star  Grays.”  My  first  military 
exploit  was  on  the  passenger  steamer  Morgan,  where  we  made  a  trip 
out  into  the  gulf  of  Mexico  and  intercepted  and  assisted  in  the  capture 
of  United  States  Gen.  Twiggs’  army,  which  had  evacuated  the  Texas 
frontier  forts  and  came  to  the  sea  coast  at  Indianola  to  embark  for 
Washington,  D.  C. 

My  next  military  exploit  was  a  “run-away”  trip  on  my  part, 
for  which  I  received  an  ear-pulling  from  my  guardian  when  I  re- 


14 


A.  R.  PARSONS  AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 


turned.  These  were  stirring  “war  times/’  and,  as  a  matter  of  course, 
my  young  blood  caught  the  infection.  I  wanted  to  enlist  in  the 
Rebel  army  and  join  Gen.  Lee  in  Virginia,  but  my  guardian,  Mr. 
Richardson,  proprietor  of  the  News,  a  man  of  60  years  and  the  leader 
of  the  Secession  movement  in  Texas,  ridiculed  the  idea,  on  account 
of  my  age  and  size,  and  ended  by  telling  me  that  “it’s  all  bluster  any¬ 
way.  It  will  be  ended  in  the  next  sixty  days,  and  I  will  hold  in  my 
hat  all  the  blood  that’s  shed  in  this  war.”  This  statement  from  one 
whom  I  thought  knew,  all  about  it  only  served  to  fix  all  the  firmer 
my  resolve  to  go,  and  go  at  once,  before  too  late.  So  I  took  “French 
leave,”  and  joined  an  artillery  company  at  an  improvised  fort  at 
Sabine  Pass,  Tex.,  where  Capt.  Richard  Parsons,  an  elder  brother, 
was  in  command  of  an  infantry  company.  Here  I  exercised  in  in¬ 
fantry  drill  and  served  as  “powder  monkey”  for  the  cannoneers. 
My  military  enlistment  expired  in  twelve  months,  when  I  left  Fort 
Sabine  and  joined  Parsons’  Texas  cavalry  brigade,  then  on  the 
Mississippi  river.  My  brother,  Maj.-Gen.  W.  H.  Parsons  (who 
during  the  war  was  by  his  soldiers  invested  with  the  sobriquet  “Wild 
Bill”),  was  at  that  time  in  command  of  the  entire  cavalry  outposts  on 
the  west  bank  of  the  Mississippi  river  from  Helena  to  the  mouth  of 
the  Red  river.  His  cavalrymen  held  the  advance  in  every  movement 
of  the  trans-Mississippi  army,  from  the  defeat  of  the  Federal  General 
Curtis  on  White  river  to  the  defeat  of  Gen.  Banks’  army  on  Red  river, 
which  closed  the  fighting  on  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi.  I  was 
a  mere  boy  of  15  when  I  joined  my  brother's  command  at  the  front 
on  White  river,  and  was  afterward  a  member  of  the  renowned  Mc- 
Inoly  Scouts,  under  Gen.  Parsons’  order,  which  participated  in  all 
the  battles  of  the  Curtis,  Canby,  and  Banks  campaigns. 

On  my  return  home  to  Waco,  Tex.,  at  the  close  of  the  war,  I 
traded  a  good  mule,  all  the  property1  I  possessed,  for  forty  acres  of 
corn  in  the  field  standing  ready  for  harvest,  to  a  refugee  who  desired 
to  flee  the  country.  I  hired  and  paid  wages  (the  first  they  had  ever 
received)  to  a  number  of  ex-slaves,  and  together  we  reaped  the  har¬ 
vest.  From  the  proceeds  of  its  sale  I  obtained  a  sum  sufficient 
to  pay  for  six  months’  tuition  at  the  Waco  University,  under 
control  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  R.  B.  Burleson.  Soon  afterward  I  took  up 


A.  R.  parsons'  autobiography. 


15 


the  trade  of  type-setting  and  went  to  work  in  a  printing  office  in  the 
town.  In  1868  I  founded  and  edited  a  weekly  newspaper  in  Waco, 
named  the  Spectator.  In  it  I  advocated,  with  Gen.  Longstreet,  the 
acceptance,  in  good  faith,  of  the  terms  of  surrender,  and  supported 
the  thirteenth,  fourteenth,  and  fifteenth  constitutional  amendments 
and  the  reconstruction  measures  securing  the  political  rights  of  the 
colored  people.  (I  was  strongly  influenced  in  taking  this  step  out  of 
respect  and  love  for  the  memory  of  dear  old  “Aunt  Easter,”  then 
dead,  and  formerly  a  slave  and  house-servant  of  my  brother's  fam¬ 
ily,  she  having  been  my  constant  associate  and  practically  raised  me, 
with  great  kindness  and  ai  mother’s  love.)  I  became  a  Republican, 
and,  of  course,  had  to  go  into  politics.  I  incurred  thereby  the  hate 
and  contumely  of  many  of  my  former  army  comrades,  neighbors, 
and  the  Ku  Klux  Klan.  My  political  career  was  full  of  excitement 
and  danger.  I  took  the  stump  to  vindicate  my  convictions.  The 
lately  enfranchised  slaves  over  a  large  section  of  country  came  to 
know  and  idolize  me  as  their  friend  and  defender,  while  on  the  other 
hand  I  was  regarded  as  a  political  heretic  and  traitor  by  many  of  my 
former  associates.  The  Spectator  could  not  long  survive  such  an  at¬ 
mosphere.  In  1869  I  was  appointed  traveling  correspondent  and 

V  _ 

agent  for  the  Houston  Daily  T ele  graph,  and  started  out  on  horseback 
(our  principal  mode  of  travel  at  that  time)  for  a  long  tour  through 
northwestern  Texas.  It  was  during  this  trip  through  Johnson  county 
that  I  first  met  the  charming  young  Spanish-Indian  maiden  who, 
three  years  later,  became  my  wife.  She  lived  in  a  most  beautiful 
region  of  country,  on  her  uncle’s  ranch  near  Buffalo  Creek.  I  lin¬ 
gered  in  this  neighborhood  as  long  as  I  could,  and  then  pursued  my 
journey  with  fair  success.  In  1870,  at  21  years  of  age,  I  was  ap¬ 
pointed  Assistant  Assessor  of  United  States  Internal  Revenue,  under 
Gen.  Grant’s  administration.  About  a  year  later  I  was  elected  one  of 
the  Secretaries  of  the  Texas  State  Senate,  and  was  soon  after  ap¬ 
pointed  Chief  Deputy  Collector  of  United  States  Internal  Revenue 
at  Austin,  Tex.,  which  position  I  held,  accounting  satisfactorily  for 
large  sums  of  money,  until  1873,  when  I  resigned  the  position.  In 
August,  1873,  I  accompanied  an  editorial  excursion,  as  the  represen¬ 
tative  of  the  Texas  Agriculturist,  at  Austin,  Tex.,  and  in  company 


i6 


A.  R.  parsons'  autobiography. 


with  a  large  delegation  of  Texas  editors  made  an  extended  tour 
through  Texas,  Indian  Nation,  Missouri,  Iowa,  Illinois,  Ohio  and 
Pennsylvania,  as  guests  of  the  Missouri,  Kansas  &  Texas  railway. 
I  decided  to  settle  in  Chicago.  I  had  married  in  Austin,  Tex.,  in  the 
fall  of  1871,  and  my  wife  joining  me  at  Philadelphia  we  came  to 
Chicago  together,  where  we  have  lived  till  the  present  time.  I  at 
once  became  a  member  of  Typographical  Union  No.  16,  and  “subbed” 
for  a  time  on  the  Inter-Ocean,  when  I  went  to  work  under  “permit” 
on  the  Times.  Here  I  worked  over  four  years,  holding  a  situation  at 
“the  case.”  In  1874  I  became  interested  in  the  “labor  question,” 
growing  out  of  the  effort  made  by  Chicago  working  people  at  that 
time  to  compel  the  “Relief  and  Aid  Society”  to  render  to  the  suffer¬ 
ing  poor  of  the  city  an  account  of  the  vast  sums  of  money  (several 
millions  of  dollars)  held  by  that  society  and  contributed  by  the  whole 
world  to  relieve  the  distress  occasioned  by  the  great  Chicago  fire  of 
1871.  It  was  claimed  by  the  working  people  that  the  money  was 
being  used  for  purposes  foreign  to  the  intention  of  its  donors ;  that 
rings  of  speculators  were  corruptly  using  the  money,  while  the  dis¬ 
tressed  and  impoverished  people  for  whom  it  was  contributed  were 
denied  its  use.  This  raised  a  great  sensation  and  scandal  among  all 
the  city  newspapers,  which  defended  the  “Relief  and  Aid  Society,” 
and  denounced  the  dissatisfied  workingmen  as  “Communists,  robbers, 
loafers,”  etc.  I  began  to  examine  into  this  subject,  and  I  found  that 
the  complaints  of  the  working  people  against  the  society  were  just 
and  proper.  I  also  discovered  a  great  similarity  between  the  abuse 
heaped  upon  these  poor  people  by  the  organs  of  the  rich  and  the  ac¬ 
tions  of  the  late  southern  slave-holders  in  Texas  toward  the  newly 

enfranchised  slaves,  whom  they  accused  of  wanting  to  make  their 

» 

former  masters  “divide”  by  giving  them  “forty  acres  and  a  mule,” 
and  it  satisfied  me  there  was  a  great  fundamental  wrong  at  work  in 
society  and  in  existing  social  and  industrial  arrangements. 

From  this  time  dated  my  interest  and  activity  in  the  labor  move¬ 
ment.  The  desire  to  know  more  about  this  subject  led  me  in  contact 
with  Socialists  and  their  writings,  they  being  the  only  people  who  at 
that  time  had  made  any  protest  against  or  offered  any  remedy  for 
the  enforced  poverty  of  the  wealth-producers  and  its  collateral  evils 


A.  R.  parsons'  autobiography. 


17 

of  ignorance,  intemperance,  crime,  and  misery.  There  were  very  few 
Socialists  or  “Communists,”  as  the  daily  papers  were  fond  of  calling 
them,  in  Chicago  at  that  time.  The  result  was,  the  more  I  investi¬ 
gated  and  studied  the  relations  of  poverty  to  wealth,  its  causes  and 
cure,  the  more  interested  I  became  in  the  subject.  In  1876  a  work¬ 
ingmen’s  congress  of  organized  labor  met  in  Pittsburgh,  Pa.  I 
watched  its  proceedings.  A  split  occurred  between  the  conservatives 
and  radicals,  the  latter  of  whom  withdrew  and  organized  the 
“Workingmen’s  Party  of  the  United  States.”  The  year  previous  I 
had  become  a  member  of  the  “Social-Democratic  Party  of  America.” 
This  latter  was  now  merged  into  the  former.  The  organization  was 
at  once  pounced  upon  by  the  monopolist  class,  who,  through  the  capi¬ 
talist  press  everywhere,  denounced  us  as  “Socialists,  Communists, 
robbers,  loafers,”  etc. 

This  was  very  surprising  to  me,  and  also  had  an  exasperating 
effect  upon  me,  and  a  powerful  impulse  possessed  me  to  place  myself 
right  before  the  people  by  defining  and  explaining  the  objects  and 
principles  of  the  Workingmen’s  party,  which  I  was  thoroughly  con¬ 
vinced  were  founded  both  in  justice  and  on  necessity.  I  therefore 
entered  heartily  into  the  work  of  enlightening  my  fellow-men :  first, 
the  ignorant  and  blinded  wage-workers  who  misunderstood  us,  and 
secondly,  the  educated  labor  exploiters  who  misrepresented  us.  I 
soon  unconsciously  became  a  “labor  agitator,”  and  this  brought  down 
upon  me  a  large  amount  of  capitalist  odium.  But  this  capitalist  abuse 
and  slander  only  served  to  renew  my  zeal  all  the  more  in  the  great 
work  of  social  redemption.  In  1877  the  great  railway  strike  oc¬ 
curred ;  it  was  July  21,  1877,  and  it  is  said  30,000  workingmen 
assembled  on  Market  street,  near  Madison,  in  mass  meeting.  I  was 
called  upon  to  address  them.  In  doing  so,  I  advocated  the  pro¬ 
gramme  of  the  Workingmen’s  party,  which  was  the  exercise  of  the 
sovereign  ballot  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  State  control  of  all 
means  of  production,  transportation,  communication,  and  exchange, 
thus  taking  these  instruments  of  labor  and  wealth  out  of  the  hands  or 
control  of  private  individuals,  corporations,  monopolists,  and  syndi¬ 
cates.  To  do  this,  I  argued  that  the  wage-workers  would  first  have 
to  join  the  Workingmen’s  party.  There  was  great  enthusiasm,  but 


i8 


A.  R.  parsons'  autobiography. 


no  disorder  during  the  meeting.  The  next  day  I  went  to  the  Times 
office  to  go  to  work  as  usual,  when  I  found  my  name  stricken  from 
the  roll  of  employes.  I  was  discharged  and  blacklisted  by  this  paper 
for  addressing  the  meeting  that  night.  The  printers  in  the  office 
admired  secretly  what  they  termed  “my  pluck/’  but  they  were  afraid 
to  have  much  to  say  to  me.  About  noon  of  that  day,  as  I  was  at  the 
office  of  the  German  labor  paper,  94  Market  street  (organ  of  the 
Workingmen’s  party,  the  Arbeiter-Zeitung ,  printed  tri-weekly),  two 
men  came  in  and  accosting  me  said  Mayor  Heath  wanted  to  speak 
with  me.  Supposing  the  gentleman  was  down-stairs,  I  accompanied 
them,  when  they  told  me  he  was  at  the  Mayor’s  office.  I  expressed 
my  surprise,  and  wondered  what  he  wanted  with  me.  There  was 
great  newspaper  excitement  in  the  city,  and  the  papers  were  calling 
the  strikers  all  sorts  of  hard  names ;  but,  while  many  thousands  were 
on  the  strike,  there  had  been  no  disorder.  As  we  walked  hurriedly 
on,  one  on  each  side  of  me,  the  wind  blew  strong,  and  their  coat-tails 
flying  aside,  I  noticed  that  my  companions  were  armed.  Reaching 
the  City  Hall  building,  I  was  ushered  into  the  Chief  of  Police’s 
(Hickey)  presence  in  a  room  filled  with  police  officers.  I  knew  none 
of  them,  but  I  seemed  to  be  known  by  them  all.  They  scowled  at  me 
and  conducted  me  to  what  they  called  the  Mayor’s  room.  Here  I  waited 
a  short  while,  when  the  door  opened  and  about  thirty  persons, 
mostly  in  citizen’s  dress,  came  in.  The  Chief  of  Police  took  a  seat 
opposite  to  and  near  me.  I  was  very  hoarse  from  the  out-door  speak¬ 
ing  of  the  previous  night,  had  caught  cold,  had  had  but  little  sleep  or 
rest,  and  had  been  discharged  from  employment.  The  Chief  began 
to  catechise  me  in  a  brow-beating,  officious,  and  insulting  manner. 
He  wanted  to  know  who  I  was,  where  born,  raised,  if  married  and  a 
family,  etc.  I  quietly  answered  all  his  questions.  He  then  lectured 
me  on  the  great  trouble  I  had  brought  upon  the  city  of  Chicago,  and 
wound  up  by  asking  me  if  I  didn’t  “know  better  than  to  come  up  here 
from  Texas  and  incite  the  working  people  to  insurrection,”  etc.  I 
told  him  that  I  had  done  nothing  of  the  sort,  or  at  least  I  had  not  in¬ 
tended  to  do  so ;  that  I  was  simply  a  speaker  at  the  meeting ;  that 
was  all.  I  told  him  that  the  strike  arose  from  causes  over  which  I,  as 
an  individual,  had  no  control ;  that  I  had  merely  addressed  the  mass- 


A.  R.  parsons'  autobiography. 


19 


meeting,  advising  to  not  strike,  but  go  to  the  polls,  elect  good  men 
to  make  good  laws,  and  thus  bring  about  good  times.  Those  present 
in  the  room  were  much  excited,  and  when  I  was  through  explaining 
some  spoke  up  and  said  “Hang  him,”  “Lynch  him,”  “Lock  him  up,” 
etc. ;  to  my  great  surprise  holding  me  responsible  for  the  strikes  in 
the  city.  Others  said  it  would  never  do  to  hang  or  lock  me  up ;  that 
the  workingmen  were  excited  and  that  act  might  cause  them  to  do 
violence.  It  was  agreed  to  let  me,  go.  I  had  been  there  about  two 
hours.  The  Chief  of  Police  as  I  rose  to  depart  took  me  by  the  arm, 
accompanied  me  to  the  door,  where  he  stopped.  He  said :  “Par¬ 
sons,  your  life  is  in  danger.  I  advise  you  to  leave  the  city  at  once. 
Beware.  Everything  you  say  or  do  is  made  known  to  me.  I  have 
men  on  your  track  who  shadow  you.  Dio  you  know  you  are  liable  to 
be  assassinated  any  moment  on  the  street  ?”  I  ventured  to  ask  him 
who  by,  and  what  for?  He  answered :  “Why,  those  Board  of  Trade 
men  would  as  leave  hang  you  to  a  lamp-post  as  not.”  This  surprised 
me,  and  I  answered:  “If  I  was  alone  they  might,  but  not  other¬ 
wise.”  He  turned  the  spring  latch,  shoved  me  through  the  door  into 
the  hall,  saying  in  a  hoarse  tone  of  voice,  “Take  warning,”  and 
slammed  the  door  to.  I  was  never  in  the  old  rookery  before.  It  was 
a  labyrinth  of  halls  and  doors.  I  saw  no  one  about.  All  was  still. 
The  sudden  change  from  the  tumultuous  inmates  of  the  room  to  the 
dark  and  silent  hall  affected  me.  I  didn't  know  where  to  go  or  what 
to  do.  I  felt  alone,  absolutely  without  a  friend  in  the  wide  world. 

This  was  my  first  experience  with  the  “powers  that  be,”  and  I 
became  conscious  that  they  were  powerful  to  give  or  take  one’s  life. 
I  was  sad,  not  excited.  The  afternoon  papers  announced  in  great 
head  lines  that  Parsons,  the  leader  of  the  strikers,  was  arrested.  This 
was  surprising  and  annoying  to  me,  for  I  had  made  no  such  attempt 
a^nd  was  not  under  arrest.  But  the  papers  said  so.  That  night  I 
called  at  the  composing-room  of  the  Tribune  office,  on  the  fifth  floor, 
partly  to  get  a  night’s  work  and  partly  to  be  near  the  men  of  my  own 
craft,  whom  I  instinctively  felt  sympathized  with  me.  The  men  went 
to  work  at  7  p.  m.  It  was  near  8  o’clock,  as  I  was  talking  about  the 
great  strike,  and  wondering  what  it  would  all  come  to,  with  Mr. 
Manion,  Chairman  of  the  Executive  Board  of  our  union,  when  from 


20 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 


behind  some  one  took  hold  of  my  arms  and,  jerking  me  around  to 
face  them,  asked  me  if  my  name  was  Parsons.  One  man  on  each  side 
of  me  took  hold  of  one  arm,  another  man  put  his  hand  against  my 
back,  and  began  dragging  and  shoving  me  toward  the  door.  They 
were  strangers.  I  expostulated.  I  wanted  to  know  what  was  the 
matter.  I  said  to  them :  “I  came  in  here  as  a  gentleman,  and  I 
don’t  want  to  be  dragged  out  like  a  dog.”  They  cursed  me  between 
their  teeth,  and,  opening  the  door,  began  to  lead  me  down-stairs.  As 
we  started  down  one  of  them  put  a  pistol  to  my  head  and  said :  “I’ve 
a  mind  to  blow  your  brains  out.”  Another  said :  “Shut  up  or  we’ll 
dash  you  out  the  window  upon  the  pavements  below.”  Reaching  the 
bottom  of  the  five  flights  of  stairs  they  paused  and  said :  “Now  go. 
If  you  ever  put  your  face  in  this  building  again  you’ll  be  arrested 
and  locked  up.”  A  few  steps  in  the  hallway  and  I  opened  the  door 
and  stepped  out  upon  the  sidewalk.  (I  learned  afterward  from  the 
Tribune  printers  that  there  was  great  excitement  in  the  composing 
room,  the  men  threatening  to  strike  then  and  there  on  account  of 
the  way  I  had  been  treated;  when  Joe  Medill,  the  proprietor,  came 
up  into  the  composing-room  and  made  an  excitable  talk  to  the  men, 
explaining  that  he  knew  nothing  about  it  and  that  my  treatment  was 
done  without  his  knowledge  or  consent,  rebuking  those  who  had 
acted  in  the  way  they  had  done.  It  was  the  opinion  of  the  men, 
however,  that  this  was  only  a  subterfuge  to  allay  the  threatened 
trouble  which  my  treatment  had  excited.)  The  streets  were  almost 
deserted  at  that  early  hour,  and  there  was  a  hushed  and  expectant 
feeling  pervading  everything.  I  felt  that  I  was  likely  to  fall  a  piti¬ 
less,  unknown  sacrifice  at  any  moment.  P  strolled  down  Dearborn 
street  to  Lake,  west  on  Lake  to  Fifth  avenue.  It  was  a  calm,  pleasant 
summer  night.  Lying  stretched  upon  the  curb,  and  loitering  in  and 
about  the  closed  doors  of  the  mammoth  buildings  on  theze  streets, 
were  armed  men.  Some  held  their  muskets  in  hand,  but  most  of 
them  were  rested  against  the  buildings.  In  going  by  way  of  an  unfre¬ 
quented  street  I  found  that  I  had  got  among  those  whom  I  sought  to 
evade — they  were  the  First  regiment,  Illinois  National  Guards.  They 
seemed  to  be  waiting  for  orders  ;  for  had  not  the  newspapers  declared 
that  the  strikers  were  becoming  violent,  and  “the  Commune  was 


A.  R.  parsons'  autobiography. 


21 


about  to  rise!”  and  that  I  was  their  leader!  No  one  spoke  tot  or 
molested  me.  I  was  unknown.  The  next  day  and  the  next  the 
strikers  gathered  in  thousands  in  different  parts  of  the  city  without 
leaders  or  any  organized  purpose.  They  were  in  each  instance 
clubbed  and  fired  upon  and  dispersed  by  the  police  and  militia.  That 
night  a  peaceable  meeting  of  3,000  workingmen  was  dispersed  on 
Market  street,  near  Madison.  I  witnessed  it.  Over  100  policemen 
charged  upon  this  peaceable  mass-meeting,  firing  their  pistols  and 
clubbing  right  and  left.  The  printers,  the  iron-molders,  and  other 
trades  unions  which  had  held  regular  monthly  or  weekly  meetings  of 
their  unions  for  years  past,  when  they  came  to  their  hall-doors  now 
for  that  purpose,  found  policemen  standing  there,  the  doors  barred, 
and  the  members  told  that  all  meetings  had  been  prohibited  by  the 
Chief  of  Police.  All  mass  meetings,  union  meetings  of  any  character 
were  broken  up  by  the  police,  and  at  one  place  (Twelfth  Street  Tur¬ 
ner  hall),  where  the  Furniture-Workers’  Union  had  met  to  confer 
with  their  employers  about  the  eight-hour  system  and  wages,  the 
police  broke  down  the  doors,  forcibly  entered,  and  clubbed  and  fired 
upon  the  men  as  they  struggled  pell-mell  to  escape  from  the  building, 
killing  one  workman  and  wounding  many  others. 

The  following  day  the  First  regiment,  Illinois  National  Guards, 
fired  upon  a  crowd  of  sight-seers,  consisting  of  several  thousand 
men,  women,  and  children,  killing  several  persons,  none  of  whom 
were  ever  on  a  strike,  at  Sixteenth  street  viaduct. 

For  about  two  years  after  the  railroad  strike  and  my  discharge 
from  the  Times  office  I  was  blacklisted  and  unable  to  find  employ¬ 
ment  in  the  city,  and  my  family  suffered  for  the  necessaries  of  life. 

The  events  of  1877  gave  great  impulse  and  activity  to  the  labor 
movement  all  over  the  United  States,  and,  in  fact,  the  whole  world. 
The  unions  rapidly  increased  both  in  number  and  membership.  So, 
too,  with  the  Knights  of  Labor.  In  visiting  Indianapolis,  Ind.,  to 
address  a  mass-meeting  of  workingmen  on  the  Fourth  of  July, 
1876,  I  met  the  State  Organizer,  Calvin  A.  Light,  and  was  initiated 
by  him  as  a  member  of  the  Knights  of  Labor,  and  I  have  been  a 
member  of  that  order  ever  since.  That  organization  had  no  foothold, 
was  in  fact  unknown,  in  Illinois,  at  that  time.  What  a  change!  To- 


22 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 


day  the  Knights  of  Labor  has  nearly  a  million  members,  and  num¬ 
bers  tens  of  thousands  in  the  State  of  Illinois.  The  political  labor 
movement  boomed  also..  The  following  spring  of  1877  the  Working- 
men’s  Party  of  the  United  States  nominated  a  full  county  ticket  in 
Chicago.  It  elected  three  members  of  the  Legislature  and  one  Sena¬ 
tor.  I  received  as  candidate  for  County  Clerk  7,963  votes,  running 
over  400  ahead  of  the  ticket.  About  that  time  I  became  a  member  of 
local  assembly  400  of  the  Knights  of  Labor,  the  first  Knights  of 
Labor  assembly  organized  in  Chicago,  and,  I  believe,  in  the  State  of 
Illinois.  I  also  served  as  a  delegate  to  district  assembly  24  for  two 
terms,  and  was,  I  think,  made  its  Master  Workman  for  one  term. 

I  have  been  nominated  by  the  workingmen  in  Chicago  three 
times  for  Alderman,  twice  for  County  Clerk,  and  once  for  Congress. 
The  Labor  party  was  kept  up  for  four  years,  polling  at  each  election 
from  6,000  to  12,000  votes.  I  was  in  1878  a  delegate  to  the  national 
convention  of  the  Workingmen’s  Party  of  the  United  States,  held  at 
Newark,  N.  J.  At  this  labor  congress  the  name  of  the  party  was 
changed  to  “Socialistic  Labor  party.”  In  1878,  at  my  instance  and 
largely  through  my  efforts,  the  present  Trades  Assembly  of  Chicago 
and  vicinity  was  organized.  I  was  its  first  President  and  was  re¬ 
elected  to  that  position  three  times.  I  remained  a  delegate  to  the 
Trades  Assembly  from  Typographical  Union  No.  16  for  several 
years.  I  was  a  strenuous  advocate  of  the  eight-hour  system  among 
trades  unions.  In  1879  I  was  a  delegate  to  the  national  convention 
held  in  Allegheny  City,  Pa.,  of  the  Socialistic  Labor  party,  and  was 
there  nominated  as  the  Labor  candidate  for  President  of  the  United 
States.  I  declined  the  honor,  not  being  of  the  constitutional  age — 35 
years.  (This  was  the  first  nomination  of  a  workingman  by  working¬ 
men  for  that  office  in  the  United  States.) 

During  these  years  of  political  action  every  endeavor  was  made 
to  corrupt,  to  intimidate,  and  mislead  the  Labor  party.  But  it  re¬ 
mained  pure  and  undefiled ;  it  refused  to  be  cowed,  bought,  or  misled. 
Beset  on  the  one  side  by  the  insinuating  politician  and  on  the  other  by 
the  almighty  money-bags,  what  between  the  two  the  Labor  party — 
the  honest,  poor  party — had  a  hard  road  to  travel.  And,  worst  of  all, 
the  workingmen  refused  to  rally  en  masse  to  their  own  party,  but 


A.  R.  parsons'  autobiography. 


23 


doggedly,  the  most  of  them,  hugged  their  idols  of  Democracy  or 
Republicanism,  and  fired  their  ballots  against  each  other  on  election 
days.  It  was  discouraging.  But  the  Labor  party  moved  forward  un¬ 
daunted,  and  each  election  came  up  smiling  at  defeat.  In  1876  the 
Socialist,  an  English  weekly  paper,  was  published  by  the  party,  and 
I  was  elected  its  assistant  editor.  About  this  time  the  Socialist 
organization  held  some  monster  meetings.  The  Exposition  building 
on  one  occasion  contained  over  40,000  attendants,  and  many  could 
not  get  inside.  Ogden’s  grove  on  one  occasion  held  30,000  persons. 
During  these  years  the  labor  movement  was  undergoing  its  forma¬ 
tive  period,  as  it  is  even  now.  The  un-American  utterances  of  the 
capitalist  press — the  representatives  of  monopoly — excited  the  gravest 
apprehension  among  thoughtful  working  people.  These  representa¬ 
tives  of  the  moneyed  aristocracy  advised  the  use  of  police  clubs,  and 
militia  bayonets,  and  gatling  guns  to  suppress  strikers  and  put  down 
discontented  laborers  struggling  for  better  pay — shorter  work-hours. 
The  millionaires  and  their  representatives  on  the  pulpit  and  rostrum 
avowed  their  intention  to  use  force  to  quell  their  dissatisfied  laborers. 
The  execution  of  these  threats ;  the  breaking  up  of  meetings,  arrest 
and  imprisonment  of  labor  “leaders  ;”"the  use  of  club,  pistol,  and  bay¬ 
onet  upon  strikers ;  even  to  the  advice  to  throw  hand-grenades  (dyn¬ 
amite)  among  them — these  acts  of  violence  and  brutality  led  many 
workingmen  to  consider  the  necessity  for  self-defense  of  their  person 
and  their  rights.  Accordingly,  workingmen’s  military  organizations 
sprang  up  all  over  the  country.  So  formidable  did  this  plan  of 
organization  promise  to  become  that  the  capitalistic  Legislature  of 
Illinois  in  1878,  acting  under  orders  from  millionaire  manufacturers 
and  railway  corporations,  passed  a  law  disarming  the  wage-workers. 
This  law  the  workingmen  at  once  tested  in  the  Courts  of  Illinois,  and 
afterward  carried  it  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States, 
where  it  was  decided  by  the  highest  tribunal  that  the  State  Legisla¬ 
tures  of  the  United  States  had  a  constitutional  right  to  disarm  work¬ 
ingmen.  Dissensions  began  to  rise  in  the  Socialist  organization  over 
the  question  of  methods.  In  the  fall  and  spring  elections  of  1878- 
’79~’8o  the  politicians  began  to  practice  ballot-box  stuffing  and  other 
outrages  upon  the  Workingmen’s  party.  It  was  then  I  began  to 


24 


A.  R.  parsons'  autobiography. 


realize  the  hopeless  task  of  political  reformation.  Many  workingmen 
began  to  lose  faith  in  the  potency  of  the  ballot  or  the  protection  of  the 
law  for  the  poor.  Some  of  them  said  that  “political  liberty  without 
economic  (industrial)  freedom  was  an  empty  phrase."  Others  claimed 
that  poverty  had  no  votes  as  against  wealth ;  because  if  a  man’s  bread 
was  controlled  by  another,  that  other  could  and,  when  necessary, 
would  control  his  vote  also.  A  consideration  and  discussion  of  these 
subjects  gradually  brought  a  change  of  sentiment  in  the  minds  of 
many ;  the  conviction  began  to  spread  that  the  State,  the  Government 
and  its  laws,  was  merely  the  agent  of  the  owners  of  capital  to  recon¬ 
cile,  adjust,  and  protect  their — the  capitalists’ — conflicting  interests; 
that  the  chief  function  of  all  Government  was  to  maintain  economic 
subjection  of  the  man  of  labor  to  the  monopolizer  of  the  means  of 
labor — of  life — to  capital.  These  ideas  began  to  develop  in  the  minds 
of  workingmen  everywhere  (in  Europe  as  well  as  America),  and  the 
conviction  grew  that  law — statute  law — and  all  forms  of  Government 
(governors,  rulers,  dictators,  whether  Emperor,  King,  President,  or 
capitalist,  were  each  and  all  of  the  despots  and  usurpers),  was  noth¬ 
ing  else  than  an  organized  conspiracy  of  the  propertied  class  to  de¬ 
prive  the  working  class  of  their  natural  rights.  The  conviction  ob¬ 
tained  that  money  or  wealth  controlled  politics;  that  money  con¬ 
trolled,  by  hook  or  crook,  labor  at  the  polls  as  well  as  in  the  work¬ 
shop.  The  idea  began  to  prevail  that  the  element  of  coercion,  of 
force,  which  enabled  one  person  to  dominate  and  exploit  the  labor  of 
another,  was  centered  or  concentrated  in  the  State,  the  Government, 
and  the  statute  law,  that  every  law  and  every  Government  in  the 
last  analysis  was  force,  and  that  force  was  despotism,  an  invasion  of 
man’s  natural  right  to  liberty. 

In  1880  I  withdrew  from  all  active  participation  in  the  political 
Labor  party,  having  been  convinced  that  the  number  of  hours  per 
day  that  the  wage-workers  are  compelled  to  work,  together  with  the 
low  wages  they  received,  amounted  to  their  practical  disfranchise¬ 
ment  as  voters.  I  saw  that  long  hours  and  low  wages  deprived 
the  wage-workers,  as  a  class,  of  the  necessary  time  and  means,  and 
consequently  left  them  but  little  inclination  to  organize  for  political 
action  to  abolish  class  legislation.  My  experience  in  the  Labor  party 


A.  R.  parsons'  autobiography. 


25 


had  also  taught  me  that  bribery,  intimidation,  duplicity,  corruption, 
and  bulldozing  grew  out  of  the  conditions  which  made  the  working- 
people  poor  and  the  idlers  rich,  and  that  consequently  the  ballot-box 
could  not  be  made  an  index  to  record  the  popular  will  until  the  exist¬ 
ing  debasing,  impoverishing,  and  enslaving  industrial  conditions  were 
first  altered.  For  these  reasons  I  turned  my  activities  mainly  toward 
an  effort  to  reduce  the  hours  of  labor  to  at  least  a  normal  working 
day,  so  that  the  wage-workers  might  thereby  secure  more  leisure 
from  mere  drudge  work,  and  obtain  better  pay  to  minister  to  their 
higher  aspirations.  Several  trades  unions  united  in  sending  me 
throughout  the  different  States  to  lay  the  eight-hour  question  before 
the  labor  organizations  of  the  country.  In  January,  1880,  the 
“Eight-Hour  League  of  Chicago"  sent  me  as  a  delegate  to  the  na¬ 
tional  conference  of  labor  reformers,  held  in  Washington,  DL  C.  This 
convention  adopted  a  resolution  which  I  offered,  calling  public  atten¬ 
tion  of  the  United  States  Congress  to  the  fact,  that,  while  the  eight- 
hour  law  passed  years  ago  had  never  been  enforced  in  Government 
departments,  there  was  no  trouble  at  all  in  getting  through  Congress 
all  the  capitalistic  legislation  called  for.  By  this  national  convention 
Richard  Trevellick,  Charles  H.  Litchman,  Dyer  D.  Lum,  John  G. 
Mills,  and  myself  were  appointed  a  committee  of  the  National  Eight- 
Hour  Association,  whose  duty  it  was  to  remain  in  Washington,  D. 
C.,  and  urge  upon  the  labor  organizations  of  the  United  States  to 
unite  for  the  enforcement  of  the  eight-hour  law. 

About  this  time  there  followed  a  period  of  discussion  of  property 
rights,  of  the  rights  of  majorities  and  minorities.  The  agitation  of 
the  subject  led  to  the  formation  of  a  new  organization,  called  the  In¬ 
ternational  Revolutionary  Socialists,  and  later  the  International 
Working  People’s  Association.  I  was  a  delegate  in  1881  to  the  labor 
congress  which  founded  the  former,  and  afterward  also  delegate  to 
the  Pittsburgh  (Pa.)  congress  in  October,  1883,  which  revived  the 
latter  as  a  part  of  the  International  Working  People’s  Association, 
which  already  ramified  Europe,  and  which  was  originally  organized 
at  the  world’s  labor  congress  held  at  London,  England,  in  1864. 

In  all  these  matters  here  enumerated  I  took  an  active,  personal 
interest.  October  1,  1884,  the  International  founded  in  Chicago  the 


26 


A.  R.  parsons'  autobiography. 


Alarm ,  a  weekly  newspaper,  of  which  I  was  elected  to  the  position 
of  editor,  and  I  have  held  that  position  until  its  seizure  and  sup¬ 
pression  by  the  authorities  on  the  5th  day  of  May,  1886,  following 
the  Haymarket  tragedy. 

*  *  *  jjrsjc**  * 

The  examination  of  the  class  struggle  demonstrates  that  the 
eight-hour  movement  was  doomed  by  the  very  nature  of  things  to 
defeat.  But  the  International  gave  its  support  to  it  for  two*  rea¬ 
sons,  viz. :  First,  because  it  was  a  class  movement  against  class 
domination,  therefore  historical,  and  evolutionary,  and  necessary ; 
and  secondly,  because  we  did  not  choose  to  stand  aloof  and  be  mis¬ 
understood  by  our  fellow-workers.  We,  therefore,  gave  to  it  all  the 
aid  and  comfort  in  our  power.  I  was  regularly  accredited  under 
the  official  seal  of  the  trade  and  labor  unions  of  the  Central  Labor 
Union,  representing  20,000  organized  workingmen  in  Chicago,  to 
assist  in  the  organization  of  trade  and  labor  unions,  and  do  all  in 
my  power  for  the  eight-hour  movement.  The  Central  Labor  Union, 
in  conjunction  with  the  International,  publishes  six  newspapers  in 
Chicago,  to-wit :  One  English  weekly,  two  German  weeklies,  one 
Bohemian  weekly,  one  Scandinavian  weekly,  and  one  German  daily 
newspaper. 

The  trade  and  labor  unions  of  the  United  States  and  Canada 
having  set  apart  the  1st  day  of  May,  1886,  to  inaugurate  the  eight- 
hour  system,  I  did  all  in  my  power  to  assist  the  movement.  I  feared 
conflict  and  trouble  would  arise  between  the  authorities  represent¬ 
ing  the  employers  of  labor  and  the  wage-workers,  who  only  repre¬ 
sented  themselves.  I  knew  that  defenseless  men,  women,  and  chil¬ 
dren  must  finally  succumb  to  the  power  of  the  discharge,  blacklist, 
and  lock-out,  and  its  consequent  misery  and  hunger,  enforced  by  the 
militiaman’s  bayonet  and  the  policeman’s  club.  I  did  not  advocate 
the  use  of  force.  But  I  denounced  the  capitalists  for  employing  it  to 
hold  the  laborers  in  subjection  to  them,  and,  declared  that  such 
treatment  would  of  necessity  drive  the  workingmen  to  employ  the 
same  means  in  self-defense. 

Albert  R.  Parsons. 

Cook  County  Jail,  Cell  29,  August,  1886. 


PART  II. 


i  • 


CHAPTER  I. 

MR.  PARSONS’  WESTERN  TRIP  CORRESPONDENCE. 

Speech  Delivered  July  4,  1885,  in  Ottawa,  Kan.,  Before  an 
Audience  of  Three  Thousand  People — Reasons  for  His 
Ideas — Social  Science,  the  Explanation  of  Facts — Produc¬ 
tion  and  Distribution  the  Basis  of  All  Progress — Process 
of  Crushing  Out  of  the  Middle  Classes — Bourgeoisie  Fol¬ 
lowed  the  Feudal  System  and  in  Its  Turn  Must  Give  Way 
— Valuable  Statistics — Increase  of  Crime  and  Insanity. 

Ottawa,  Kan.,  located  60  miles  west  of  Kansas  City,  on  the  Mise 
de  Sine  river,  in  one  of  the  loveliest  valleys,  and  amid  the  richest  ag¬ 
ricultural  regions  of  the  west,  is  a  town  of  some  7,000  inhabitants, 
where  the  round-house  and  machine  shops  of  the  Southern  Kansas 
railroad  are  located,  as  well  as  a  few  embryonic  manufacturing  estab¬ 
lishments. 

The  place  is  popular  as  a  general  resort  for  gatherings  of  a  public 
and  social  character  throughout  the  state,  and  among  the  most  active 
and  intelligent  of  its  population  are  the  workingmen,  the  foremost  of 
whom  are  organized  into  Franklin  Assembly  2557,  Knights  of  Labor. 

Under  the  auspices  of  these  men,  it  was  decided  prior  to  July  4 
that  the  day  should  be  consecrated  anew  to  the  cause  of  human  liberty 
and  the  freedom  of  labor.  Accordingly  preparations  were  made  on 
an  extensive  scale,  and  invitations  to  labor  organizations  were  issued 
and  sent  all  over  the  states  of  Kansas  and  Missouri. 

The  following  was  the  heading  of  their  programme : 

“The  days  we  celebrate,  1776-1885.  Grand  anniversary  labor  day  ! 
In  Forest  Park,  Ottawa,  Kan.,  on  July  4,  under  the  auspices  of 
Franklin  Assembly  2557.  Admission  free. 


27 


/ 

28  MR.  PARSONS'  WESTERN  TRIP. 

Morning  Salute — Sunrise  gun. 

9  a.  m. — Grand  rally  in  the  park.  Band.  “Rally  'Round  the 
Flag.”  io  a.  m.,  reading  the  Declaration  of  Independence  by  W.  L. 
Parkingston.  Band.  “America.” 

7:30  p.  m. — Address  by  the  celebrated  labor  agitator,  A.  R.  Par¬ 
sons,  of  Chicago.  Band.  “Home,  Sweet  Home.” 

On  the  morning  of  the  4th  the  sun  rose  bright  and  clear,  and  the 
day  bid  fair  to  be  most  auspicious,  and  by  noon  of  that  day  fully  10,- 
coo  persons  were  assembled  in  the  park. 

On  approaching  the  gate  which  gave  entrance  to  the  grove,  your 
reporter  observed  above  it  the  following  motto,  painted  in  large  let¬ 
ters  on  twenty  feet  of  canvas  by  three  'feet  wide,  viz. : 

“No  system  of  religion,  government  or  society,  which  builds  up 
one  person  by  despoiling  another,  is  worthy  of  the  support  of  true 
Christians,  patriots  or  philanthropists.” 

Small  red  flags  were  suspended  in  clusters  on  either  side  of  the 
entrance,  on  which  were  printed  in  golden  letters,  “Liberty,  Equality, 
Fraternity.” 

Entering  the  grove,  a  most  inviting  scene  presented  itself.  The 
broad  and  beautiful  shade  trees,  the  soft  and  inviting  green  grass,  the 
beautiful  river  meandering  through  the  booths,  tents,  and  the  large 
tabernacle,  where  3,000  persons  could  be  comfortably  seated,  make 
up  the  attractions  of  Forest  Park. 

On  reaching  the  platform  of  the  speakers'  stand  we  found  it 
draped  with  the  American  flag,  bordered  on  either  side  with  clusters 
of  the  red  flag. 

Suspended  above  the  center  of  the  platform  was  a  large  canvas, 
on  which  was  the  motto :  “Labor  is  prior  to  and  independent  of  capi¬ 
tal.  Capital  is  only  the  fruit  of  labor,  and  never  could  have  existed 
had  not  labor  first  existed.  Labor  is  much  the  superior  and  deserves 
much  the  higher  consideration.” — Abraham  Lincoln. 

On  the  left  was  this  motto  in  large  letters :  “The  corruption  of 
the  best  and  most  divine  forms  of  government  must  be  the  worst.” — 
Aristotle. 

On  the  right  of  the  platform  was  this  motto:  “An  injury  to  one 
is  the  concern  of  all.” 

The  following  mottoes  were  painted  on  canvas  in  large  letters 


MR.  PARSONS'  WESTERN  TRIP. 


29 


and  suspended  in  conspicuous  places  throughout  the  park:  “Wise 
men  form  judgment  of  the  present  from  the  past.” — Sophocles. 

“I  confirm  it  as  my  conviction  that  class  laws,  placing  capital 
above  labor,  are  more  dangerous  to  the  republic  at  this  hour  than  the 
chattel  slavery  system  in  the  days  of  its  haughtiest  supremacy.” — - 
Abraham  Lincoln. 

A.  R.  Parsons,  on  being  introduced,  said  that  as  the  committee  of 
arrangements  had  left  it  to  him  to  select  his  own  subject,  he  had 
chosen  the  Social  Revolution  as  the  topic  for  discussion. 

It  was  well  known  he  was  an  Anarchist,  said  the  speaker.  He 
asked  their  attention  to  a  few  of  the  many  reasons  why  not  only 
himself  but  others  should  sooner  or  later  become  revolutional. 
Social  science,  or  Socialism,  said  the  speaker,  teaches  us  how  to 
understand  or  explain  facts ;  how  to  point  out  analogies,  and  thus 
discover  the  operations  of  natural  law.  To  understand  the  science 
of  life  we  must  learn  the  history  of  the  human  race,  and  by  its  past 
understand  the  present.  The  history  of  man,  in  all  its  evolutions 
and  revolutions,  was  simply  the  manifestation  of  their  economic  or 
material  condition.  Production,  and  next  to  production  the  distri¬ 
bution  of  wealth,  forms  the  basis  of  all  moral,  intellectual,  and 
social  progress  and  order.  In  all  historical  epochs  we  find  that  the 
distribution  of  the  products  of  labor  and  the  social  grading  into 
castes  and  classes  were  in  strict  accordance  with  the  mode  of  pro¬ 
duction  and  that  of  exchange.  Hence  the  primary  cause  of  all 
social  changes  and  political  revolutions  must  not  be  sought  in  the 
heads  of  man,  or  in  the  growing  enlightenment  and  conception  of 
eternal  truth  and  justice,  but  in  the  changes  that  took  place  in  the 
modes  of  production  and  exchange.  They  must  not  be  sought  in 
the  philosophy ,  but  rather  in  the  economy,  of  their  respective  epoch; 
therefore,  the  growing  conviction  that  the  existing  social  institutions 
are  unreasonable  and  unjust,  are  simply  the  explanation  of  the  fact 
that  the  methods  of  production  and  exchange  have  undergone 
changes  until  they  can  no  longer  be  made  to  apply  to  a  social  order 
which  grew  up  under  entirely  different  economic  conditions. 
The  existing  social  order  has  outgrown  its  usefulness,  if  it  ever  had 
any,  and  for  proof  we  point  to  the  poverty  of  the  great  mass  of  the 
people,  which  has  now  become  unendurable.  What  is  this  social 


30 


MR.  PARSONS'  WESTERN  TRIP. 


order  of  which  we  speak?  It  is  our  modern  industrial  system,  with 
its  world-wide  markets,  based  upon  the  institution  of  private  property. 
It  is  the  private  ownership  by  a  few  members  of  society  of  the 
means  of  production  and  resources  of  life;  such  private  ownership 
creating  two  classes — one  the  bourgeoisie,  or  propertied  class,  the 
other  the  proletariat,  or  propertyless  class.  The  propertied  are  thus 
made  a  privileged  class  who  grow  enormously  wealthy  by  absorbing 
or  confiscating  the  labor  products  of  the  propertyless,  who  become 
the  dependent  hirelings  of  the  propertied. 

Under  the  operations  of  the  private  property  system  modern  Gov¬ 
ernments,  whether  an  Empire,  a  Constitutional  Monarchy,  or  a  Dem¬ 
ocratic  Republic,  such  as  we  have  now  in  the  United  States,  are 
merely  the  managing  committees,  organized  for  the  purpose  of  con¬ 
ducting  the  affairs  of  industry  in  the  interests  of  the  property-holding 
class. 

The  social,  moral,  political,  and  religious  institutions  of  society 
are  but  the  reflex  of  the  economic. 

The  American  Republic  was  proclaimed  109  years  ago  to-day, 
and  its  existence  made  possible  because  the  men  of  that  time  were, 
comparatively  speaking,  economically  free  and  equal.  Their  ma¬ 
terial  and  physical  condition  was  such  as  to  make  the  Republic  pos¬ 
sible. 

The  declaration  of  independence  that  “all  men  are  by  nature 
created  free  and  equal”  is  as  much  a  truth,  but  less  an  actuality  to 
the  people  of  the  United  States  to-day,  as  when  our  forefathers  pro¬ 
claimed  it.  The  men  of  that  day  possessed  political  freedom  be¬ 
cause  they  enjoyed  economic  liberty,  and  we,  their  descendants, 
are  disfranchised,  because  we  are  disinherited — deprived  of  the 
means  of  life. 

The  industrial  or  economic  enslavement  of  the  workers — the 
wealth  producers — has  destroyed  their  political  power  and  rendered 
them  the  play-things  of  that  modern  social  devil-fish,  the  politician. 
The  poor  have  no  liberties,  political  or  otherwise,  which  the  rich 
may  choose  to  deny  them.  The  right  to  sell  their  labor  is  contin¬ 
gent  upon  whether  the  rich  choose  to  buy  it.  The  chance  to  be  a 
slave,  a  wage-slave,  is  even  denied  to  millions  of  the  propertyless 
class,  who  annually  perish  of  hunger,  disease,  and  misery  because 


MR.  PARSONS'  WESTERN  TRIP. 


31 


thereof.  Political  liberty  without  economic  freedom  is  an  empty 
phrase.  The  possessors  of  property  also  possess  all  political  power 
in  all  modern  so-called  representative  States. 

The  ballot,  strikes,  arbitration,  isolated  co-operation,  economy, 
prayers,  or  petitions  can  no  longer  ameliorate  the  condition  of  the 
wage-slave.  So,  far  from  improving  their  condition,  the  system  of 
industry,  based  upon  private  property  with  wages  and  competition, 
not  only  renders  this  impossible,  but  must  continue  to  make  the 
rich  richer,  and  the  poor  poorer,  inevitably. 

This  system  centralizes  the  means  of  production ;  it  gathers 
the  people  into  vast  commercial  and  manufacturing  centers,  where 
the  enormous  wealth  they  create  flows  continually  into  the  coffers 
of  the  few.  Here  the  strike  is  met  with  the  lock-out,  and  the  ballot 
falls  powerless  from  the  hand  which  holds  no  bread. 

Under  this  system  periodic  panics  occur,  world-wide  in  their 
character,  growing  more  frequent  and  intense  as  the  system'  de¬ 
velops.  At  such  times  society  is  suddenly  thrown  back  into  bar¬ 
barism,  and  thousands  perish  of  want  while  surrounded  with  the 
greatest  abundance.  We  are  in  the  midst  of  such  a  crisis  now.  Every 
country  is  searching  for  a  foreign  market  to  absorb  its  so-called 
overproduction,  and  the  captains  of  our  modern  industry,  like  Alex¬ 
ander  of  Macedon,  bewail  the  fact  that  there  are  no  more  commercial 
worlds  for  them  to  conquer. 

Look  at  the  process  of  production  and  exchange  and  see  what 
it  is.  The  increase  of  the  technical  sciences,  the  division  and  sub¬ 
division  of  labor,  the  application  of  machinery,  steam,  and  elec¬ 
tricity  is  ever  changing  and  ever  increasing  the  productive  power 
on  one  hand  and  decreasing  the  demand  for  wage-laborers  on  the 
other.  As  the  power  to  produce  rapidly  increases,  so  does  the  op¬ 
portunity  to  work,  and  consequently  to  live,  rapidly  diminish  on 
the  other.  The  commercial  middle-class  system  of  production  can 
not  longer  withstand  the  pressure  of  overproduction,  and  the  forces 
of  production  at  the  disposal  of  society  has  become  too  powerful  for 
middle-class  control.  It  has  created  the  conditions  which  will 
cause  its  destruction.  It  has  transformed  the  small  workshop  into 
the  large  factory,  and  the  individual  capitalist  is  superseded  by  the 
corporation  and  syndicate.  The  small  dealer,  merchant,  or  farmer 


32 


MR.  PARSONS'  WESTERN  TRIP. 


is  forced  by  competition  and  the  superior  facilities  which  large 
capital  employs  to  quit  the  field  of  business,  and  are  driven  into 
the  ranks  of  the  wage-workers.  The  small  capitalist  cannot  cope 
with  the  millionaire,  and  the  individual  millionaire  must  succumb 
to  the  syndicate.  Thus  the  ranks  of  the  revolutionary  proletariat 
is  recruited  from  all  classes  of  the  population.  Thus  the  social 
revolution  is  ever  gathering  strength  for  the  new  birth,  when  all  men 
will  indeed  be  free  and  equal.  The  movements  of  the  past  were 
the  conflicts  of  minorities  in  the  interests  of  minorities.  Not  so 
with  the  world-wide  international  labor  movement  of  to-day,  which 
is  a  movement  of  the  vast  majority  on  behalf  of  the  immense 
majority. 

The  existing  social  order,  as  everyone  now  admits,  is  the  work 
of  the  bourgeoisie.  Their  peculiar  mode  of  production,  which  we 
call  “capitalistic  production,”  was  incompatible  with  the  local  and 
class  privileges  and  the  mutual  personal  relations  of  the  feudal 
order.  The  bourgeoisie  destroyed  the  feudal  order,  and  established 
in  its  stead  the  present  civil  society,  with  its  constitution  of  free 
competition,  equal  rights,  and  other  glorious  things,  among  those 
who  were  in  possession  of  the  products  and  means  of  production. 
Under  these  conditions  the  development  of  production  was  given 
full  sway.  Soon  the  small  manufacturer  disappeared.  Steam  and 
machinery  took  the  place  of  human  labor  and  production  on  a  large 
scale  grew  with  unprecedented  rapidity.  And  as  in  former  times  the 
developed  small  trade  came  in  conflict  with  the  fetters  of  feudalism, 
so  now  modern  industry  is  revolting  against  the  barriers  into  which 
the  capitalistic  system  of  production  has  forced  it.  In  other  words, 
the  present  forms  of  production  have  outgrown  the  forms  of  bour¬ 
geoisie  utilization.  This  revolt  and  this  struggle  is  going  on  out¬ 
side  of  us  and  entirely  independent  of  our  will.  Socialism  is,  there¬ 
fore,  nothing  else  but  the  reflex  of  this  conflict  and  struggle  in  our 
sphere  of  thought  and  comprehension,  and  this  reflex  is  most  potent 
in  the  minds  of  those  who  under  the  present  system  are  suffering 
most — i.  e.,  in  the  minds  of  the  working  people. 

The  speaker  proceeded  at  further  length  to  show  the  operations 
of  capitalism  in  different  countries.  He  quoted  the  United  States 
census  for  1880,  which  in  manufacturing  industries  gives  2,738,000 


MR.  PARSONS'  WESTERN  TRIP. 


33 


wage-workers  an  average  of  $304  each,  while  250,000  “bosses” 
received  in  profit  $4,000  each  on  the  average ;  that  2,738,000  wage¬ 
workers  get  three-eighths  of  their  product  in  wages,  while  the  non¬ 
producing  class — being  less  than  one-tenth  of  the  population — never¬ 
theless  appropriated  over  five-eighths  of  all  that  these  laborers  pro¬ 
duced  ;  that  there  were  11,500  business  failures  last  year,  90  per  cent, 
of  whom  possessed  less  than  $5,000;  that  over  2,000,000  persons 
are  now  in  enforced  idleness ;  that  as  production  increases  wages  de¬ 
crease.  The  speaker  gave  facts  to  show  that  the  same  condition  of 
affairs  existed  throughout  Europe  as  in  America.  He  showed  by 
facts  that  poverty,  crime,  insanity,  and  suicide  had  increased  400  per 
cent,  in  proportion  to  population  in  the  last  thirty  years. 

He  showed  the  origin  of  private  property  was  in  fraud,  force, 
and  murder,  and  that  Governments  were  instituted,  and  constitu¬ 
tions  adopted,  and  laws  manufactured  to  uphold  and  perpetuate 
the  outrage ;  that  Government  exists  for  the  sole  purpose  of  depriv¬ 
ing  men  of  their  natural  rights ;  that  authority  and  force  was  the 
weapon  of  tyrants  held  over  their  slaves.  The  speaker  said  that, 
after  evolving  for  109  years  under  the  Republic,  the  people  were 
about  to  rise  in  revolt  and  throw  off  their  economic  bondage.  He 
told  them  that  “to  be  forewarned  was  to  be  forearmed,”  and  that  they 
must  be  prepared  to  meet  force  with  force. 


/  •  ' 


J*  ■  ~ 

CHAPTER  II. 

LETTER  FROM  TOPEKA,  KANSAS. 

Large  and  Enthusiastic  Meetings  in  Topeka,  Kan.,  in  July, 
1885 — Capitalistic  Papers  Threaten — Large  Audiences  in 
St.  Joseph,  Mo. — Organizations  at  First  Hostile  Turn  to 
Be  Heart  and  Soul  With  His  Work — Other  Meetings  in 
Omaha,  Neb.;  Kansas  City,  Mo.;  and  Scammonville,  Weir 
City,  and  Pittsburg,  Kan. — Condition  of  Wage-Slaves  in 
These  Mining  and  Smelting  Towns — The  Owners'  Abso¬ 
lute  Dominion — Large  Numbers  of  Unemployed. 

Comrades: 

After  my  visit  to  Ottawa,  Kan.,  on  the  Fourth  of  July  last,  where 
I  delivered  an  address  to  the  working  people  of  that  section  on  the 
“Social  Revolution,”  which  was  received  by  them  with  unbounded 
enthusiasm,  I  on  Monday,  by  way  of  Kansas  City,  made  my  way  to 
Topeka,  a  city  of  25,000  people  and  Capital  of  the  State  of  Kansas. 
I  visited  the  local  assembly  of  the  Knights  of  Labor,  which  has  a 
very  large  membership  here,  and  made  a  short  talk  to  them,  when 
they  resolved  to  hold  an  open-air  meeting  on  the  Thursday  following, 
and  invited  me  to  address  it.  In  Topeka  I  found  such  stalwart  cham¬ 
pions  of  revolutionary  Socialism  as  Comrades  Henry,  Blakesley, 
Whiteley,  Vrooman,  Bradley,  and  others — intelligent  and  fearless 
young  men  who  cry  out  against  and  spare  not  the  infamies  of  the 
capitalistic  system. 

On  Tuesday  I  returned  to  Kansas  City  and  spoke  at  a  mass-meet¬ 
ing  of  the  working  people  at  that  place  held  on  Thursday,  July  7, 
which  had  been  arranged  by  Comrades  Bestman,  Schwab,  and  others. 
The  meeting  was  held  in  Armory  hall,  where  at  the  hour  named, 
though  the  weather  was  oppressively  hot,  fully  400  persons  were  as¬ 
sembled.  They  remained  for  over  two  hours  while  I  discussed  the 


34 


MR.  PARSONS'  WESTERN  TRIP. 


35 


principles  of  Socialism,  at  the  close  of  which  circulars,  pamphlets, 
and  copies  of  the  Alarm  were  freely  distributed,  and  much  satisfac¬ 
tion  was  expressed  by  those  present  with  what  they  had  heard.  On 
the  night  following  an  open-air  meeting  was  held  on  Market  square, 
situated  in  the  center  of  the  city  upon  one  of  the  main  thoroughfares, 
where  an  audience  of  fully  1,500  persons  gathered  around  the 
speaker.  The  sentiments  expressed  were  received  with  applause  and 
unanimous  approbation,  and  much  progress  was  made. 

On  Thursday  I  returned  to  Topeka.  I  found  the  columns  of  the 
capitalistic  papers  filled  with  notices  of  our  proposed  meeting.  At  8 
o’clock  p.  m.  a  crowd  of  over  1,500  people,  mostly  workingmen  and 
women,  gathered  on  the  street  corner  of  Kansas  avenue  and  Sixth 
street,  where  an  express  wagon  was  placed  in  the  middle  of  the  street 
for  the  speaker’s  stand.  The  crowd  listened  for  three  hours  with 
every  sign  of  approbation,  and  a  large  American  Group  and  several 
subscribers  for  the  Alarm  was  the  result.  The  capitalistic  papers  de¬ 
nounced  us  the  next  day,  and  threatened  your  humble  speaker  with 
lynching,  but  it  is  far  more  probable  that  the  workingmen  of  Topeka 
would  lynch  the  capitalists  of  Topeka  than  to  allow  themselves  to  be 
mobbed  by  them. 

The  next  day  I  departed  for  St.  Joseph,  Mo.,  a  beautiful  and  very 
wealthy  city  of  50,000  inhabitants,  where  Comrades  Christ,  Mostler, 
Nusser,  and  others  had  prepared  a  mass-meeting,  in  Turner  hall  on 
Saturday.  There  had  been  considerable  talk  of  my  advent  in  the 
columns  of  the  capitalistic  press  of  that  city,  and  many  were  the  re¬ 
marks,  favorable  and  otherwise,  made  about  the  appearance  in  their 
city  of  Parsons  from  Chicago.  As  was  to  be  expected,  the  conserva¬ 
tive  workingmen,  who  profess  to  have  faith  in  the  curative  powers  of 
the  ballot-box,  strikes,  arbitration,  etc.,  were  loud  in  their  denuncia¬ 
tions  of  the  revolutionary  Socialists,  and  they  were  at  great  pains  to 
have  the  public  understand  that  the  Knights  of  Labor  was  an  organi¬ 
zation  which  had  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  these  “Communists,” 
etc.  Well,  at  the  hour  named  the  largest  audience  ever  brought  to¬ 
gether  in  St.  Joseph  on  such  an  occasion  were  gathered  in  the  Turner 
hall,  where  those  who  could  not  get  seats  stood  in  the  sweltering 
weather  of  a  hot  July  day  for  over  three  hours,  attentively  listening 


3^ 


MR.  PARSONS'  WESTERN  TRIP. 


to  and  applauding  the  utterances  of  the  speaker.  The  meeting  created 
a  profound  impression,  and  was  the  talk  of  the  city  next  day.  On 
the  evening  following  I  spoke  to  a  large  audience  in  the  same  city,  in 
Knights  of  Labor  hall,  and  spoke  again  on  Monday  evening  before 
an  assembly  of  Knights  of  Labor,  when  a  resolution  was  unani¬ 
mously  adopted  inviting  me  to  address,  at  my  earliest  convenience,  an 
open-air  meeting  under  the  auspices  of  the  Knights  of  Labor,  they 
paying  the  expenses,  etc.  When  it  is  considered  that  the  capitalistic 
press  (there  are  three  morning  dailies  in  St.  Joseph)  were  out  in  edi¬ 
torials  every  day  showing  up  the  fallacies  of  Socialism,  and  stating 
that  such  doctrines  have  no  followers  in  that  city,  and  that  the 
Knights  of  Labor  were  especially  hostile  to  all  revolutionary  teach¬ 
ings,  and  the  attitude  of  the  Knights  of  Labor  before  the  meetings 
were  held,  some  idea  can  be  formed  of  the  tremendous  effect  the  agi¬ 
tation  produced,  when  the  men  and  organizations  which  were  loudly 
denouncing  us  are  now  heart  and  hand  with  us,  and  have  arranged  a 
mass-meeting  for  me  to  address.  It  is  satisfaction  enough  to  know 
that  three  meetings  held  in  St.  Joseph  created  a  deep  impression,  and 
have  been  the  talk  of  the  place  since. 

Monday  night,  at  i  o’clock,  I  took  the  train  for  Omaha,  Neb. 
Comrades  Ruhe,  Kretschmer,  Kopp,  and  others  had  arranged  a  mass¬ 
meeting  in  Kessinger’s  large  hall  for  Tuesday  evening.  It  was  swel¬ 
tering  weather,  and  yet  the  hall  was  crowded  with  an  attentive  au¬ 
dience,  filled  with  about  500  persons  who  remained  and  with 
approval  and  satisfaction  listened  to  a  two  hours’  speech.  Several 
names  were  taken  for  the  formation  of  an  American  Group  of  the 
International,  and  many  copies  of  the  Alarm  sold.  It  was  announced 
that  an  open-air  meeting  would  be  held  the  following  evening  in  Jef¬ 
ferson  park.  Owing  to  the  lack  of  time  to  advertise,  not  over  500 
persons  were  present.  I  spoke  to  them  for  two  hours,  and  took  sev¬ 
eral  names  for  the  formation  of  an  American  Group. 

On  Friday  I  returned  to  Kansas  City,  where  I  found  letters  invit¬ 
ing  me  to  speak  in  Scammonville,  Weir  City,  and  Pittsburg,  in  the 
southern  part  of  the  State  of  Kansas.  Large  and  enthusiastic  mass- 
meetings  were  held  in  these  places.  I  spoke  in  Scammonville  Sunday 
afternoon,  in  Weir  City  the  following  evening,  and  Pittsburg  on 


AIR.  PARSONS’  WESTERN  TRIP.  37 

Monday  night.  Large  American  Groups  were  formed  in  the  two 
former  places. 

Let  me  describe  to  you  the  condition  of  the  wage-slaves  in  Pitts¬ 
burg.  It  is  a  place  of  about  4,000  inhabitants,  and  has  several  coal 
mines  and  smelting  works.  The  mine-owners  will  not  employ  any 
person  who  belongs  to  a  labor  organization  or  who  takes  and  reads  a 
labor  paper.  The  coal  syndicate  owns  a  truck  store,  in  which  its  em¬ 
ployes  are  compelled  to  trade  under  penalty  of  losing  their  bread.  It 
owns  nearly  all  of  the  houses,  and  in  all  matters  of  work  and  social 
conduct  its  commands  must  be  strictly  obeyed.  The  capitalistic  Czars 
of  that  section  hold  absolute  dominion  over  their  wage-slaves.  It 
was  thought  to  be  rather  risky  business  to  beard  the  lion  in  his  den 
by  holding  a  labor  meeting  within  the  domain  of  these  capitalistic 
autocrats,  but,  nothing  daunted,  our  fearless  comrades,  John 
Schrumm  and  John  McLaughlin,  of  Scammonville,  accompanied  me 
and  we  got  out  hand-bills  announcing  the  meeting  on  the  principal 
and  only  business  street,  just  opposite  the  truck  store  of  the  coal 
company.  A  table  was  procured  and  served  as  a  platform.  Comrade 
John  McLaughlin,  editor  of  the  Labor  Journal,  mounted  it  and  spoke 
for  about  half  an  hour,  when  I  was  introduced  to  the  vast  audience 
which  had  assembled  and  was  standing  in  the  street.  Of  course,  as 
you  may  suppose,  we  showed  up  in  the  strongest  terms  we  could  em¬ 
ploy  the  fearful  ravages  the  “Beast  of  Property”  was  making 
upon  the  lives  and  liberties  of  the  propertyless  class.  The  crowd  of 
men  and  women  remained  for  three  hours  and  cheered  our  utter¬ 
ances  to  the  echo.  The  affair  created  a  profound  sensation  and  was 
the  talk  next  day  of  every  one  in  the  town.  Passing  by  the  door  of 
the  general  offices  of  the  coal,  syndicate  next  morning,  in  company 
with  Comrades  McLaughlin  and  Alfred  Wilson,  on  accosting  a  man 
standing  in  the  door,  he  replied  :  “Go  to  h — 1 !  I  don’t  speak  to  such 
as  you,”  and  when  he  had  passed  a  few  steps,  he  added :  “You  are 
nothing  but  a  lot  of  sons  of  b — s  anyway !”  He  was  invited  to  step 
outside  and  take  out  any  satisfaction  he  might  desire  by  Comrade 
McLaughlin,  but  he  said  nothing  further  and  we  moved  on.  The 
truck  store  of  this  town  is  devouring  the  other  business  men,  and 


3« 


MR.  PARSONS'  WESTERN  TRIP. 


they  all  feel  bitterly  hostile  toward  it.  Great  good  was  done  by  our 
meeting  in  this  place. 

The  capitalistic  press  state  that  there  are  over  12,000  unemployed 
people  in  Kansas  City,  which  is  a  place  of  about  130,000  inhabitants; 
that  there  are  5,000  in  Omaha  and  about  the  same  number  in  St. 
Joseph  out  of  work.  The  same  holds  good  in  Topeka  and  Council 
Bluffs,  and  in  all  the  smaller  towns  large  numbers  are  out  of  work. 
I  saw  tramps  on  the  wayside  everywhere,  and  at  Nebraska  City  junc¬ 
tion,  on  the  Kansas  City,  St.  Joe  &  Council  Bluffs  railroad,  on  the 
Missouri  river,  in  Iowa,  I  read  the  following  printed  on  cloth  in  large 
letters  and  tacked  up  securely  on  the  walls  of  the  railroad  station : 

Tramps  Are  Hereby  Notified  to  Move  on ! 

On  my  return  to  Kansas  City  from  my  trip  to  the  mining  regions 
I  found  an  invitation  to  return  and  address  an  open-air  meeting  in 
St.  Joseph  on  Thursday  evening,  July  23.  I  spoke  in  Kansas  City  to 
a  large  mass-meeting  of  workingmen,  mostly  “tramps,”  on  Market 
square.  I  will  speak  at  the  same  place  and  go  to  St.  Joseph,  and 
thence  back  to  Chicago. 

This  trip  has  been  productive  of  much  good.  Eight  American 
Groups  of  the  International  Working  Peoples’  Association  have  been 
formed,  and  fully  20,000  wage-slaves  have  for  the  first  time  heard 
the  gospel  of  “Liberty,  Fraternity,  and  Equality.”  In  every  place  there 
were  large  and  earnest  meetings,  with  the  most  -satisfactory  results. 
The  working  people  thirst  for  the  truths  of  Socialism  and  welcome 
their  utterance  with  shouts  of  delight.  It  only  lacks  organization  and 

preparation,  and  the  time  for  the  social  revolt  is  at  hand.  Their  mis- 

* 

eries  have  become  unendurable,  and  their  necessities  will  soon  compel 
them  to  act,  whether  they  are  prepared  or  not.  Let  us  then  redouble 
our  efforts  and  make  ready  for  the  inevitable.  Let  us  strain  every 
nerve  to  awaken  the  people  to  the  dangers  of  the  coming  storm 
between  the  propertied  and  the  propertyless  classes  of  America.  To 
this  work  let  our  lives  be  devoted.  Vive  la  Revolution  Sociale ! 


PART  III. 


CHAPTER  I. 

MEETING  IN  SOUTH  BEND,  IND. 

Mr.  Parsons'  Eventful  Speech  to  the  Wage-Slaves  of  the 
Studebaker,  Olliver,  and  Singer  Manufactories — Distrib¬ 
uting  Victor  Hugo's  “Address  to  the  Rich  and  Poor" — 
The  Slavery  of  Labor — Power  of  the  Propertied  Class 
Over  the  Propertyless — Strike  of  the  South  Bend  Work¬ 
ers  and  the  Calling  Out  of  the  Police  and  Militia — Sen¬ 
sational  Interruption — Mr.  Parsons'  Life  in  Danger — - 
His  Defenders — His  Coolness — Instances  of  Military 
Power  Over  Wealth-Producers — False  Overproduction — 
Enforced  Idleness — Inevitable  Results — Government  the 
Creation  of  the  Privileged  Classes — Eloquent  Appeal  to 
Organize,  Agitate,  Revolt. 

Taken  from  “The  Alarm ”  of  October  13,  1884. 

South  Bend,  Ind.,  contains  the  three  largest  wagon,  plow,  and 
sewing-machine  factories  in  America,  besides  several  smaller  estab¬ 
lishments,  giving  employment  and  subsistence  to  a  population  of 
20,000  persons.  The  Studebakers,  Ollivers,  Singers,  and  other  capi¬ 
talistic  czars  who  own  this  town  have  so  completely  subjugated  their 
wage-slaves  to  the  despotism  of  private  capital  that  no  person  dares 
belong  to  a  labor  organization,  and  if  suspected  of  being  connected 
with  such  is  at  once  discharged. 

On  going  to  this  town  last  week  it  was  surprising  to  find 
that  no  one  would  identify  themselves  or  be  known  as  having  any¬ 
thing  to  do  with  arousing  and  organizing  the  laborers.  Two  thou- 


39 


40  A.  R.  parsons'  in  south  bend,  ind. 

sand  copies  of  the  following  hand-bill  were  distributed  on  Wednes¬ 
day  : 

Workingmen’s  mass-meeting,  Thttfsday,  September  24,  at  7 :30  p.  m.,  in 
front  of  Court  House.  Subject:  “Low  Wages,  Hard  Times  and  No  Work. 
What  Shall  We  Do?”  Every  workingman  and  woman  in  South  Bend  should 
attend.  The  Committee. 

At  the  time  appointed  over  1,000  men  and  women  had  gathered 
in  response  to  the  call.  Mr.  Frank  Avery,  of  Mishawauka,  acted 
as  Chairman  and  introduced  A.  R.  Parsons,  of  Chicago.  Mr. 
Parsons  stepped  forward  and  began  distributing  among  the  audi¬ 
ence  copies  of  Victor  Hugo’s  “Message  to  the  Rich  and  Poor.” 

The  speaker  then  said  that  no  doubt  his  hearers  had  often  read 
about  the  Anarchists,  Communists,  and  Socialists.  To-night  they 
could  see  and  hear  one  and  judge  for  themselves  of  the  merits 
of  Socialism.  The  speaker  said  that  Socialism  declared  the  rich  to 
be  “devils  bred  in  hell,  and  dogs  with  hearts  of  stone,”  because 
their  “paradise  is  made  out  of  the  hells  of  the  poor ;”  and  Socialism 
proclaimed  that  “not  to  be  a  slave  was  to  dare  and  do.”  The 
slavery  of  labor  to  capital  was  as  complete  in  South  Bend  as  any¬ 
where  else.  Men  of  families  were  working  for  80  cents  per  day, 
and  hundreds  were  walking  the  streets  unable  to  find  any  employ¬ 
ment  at  all.  The  slavery  of  labor  was  seen  in  the  fact  that  wage¬ 
workers  were  compelled  to  do  ten  hours’  work  for  three  hours’ 
pay,  and  their  only  choice  was  between  such  a  condition  of  labor 
or  compulsory  idleness,  which  meant  no  bread  at  all.  Low  wages 
and  no  work  created  hard  times,  and  “hard  times”  was  created 
by  the  private-property  system,  which  deprived  the  people  of  their 
inalienable  right  to  the  free  use  of  all  the  means  of  life. 

Shakespeare  had  Shylock  say :  “You  do  take  my  life  when  you 
take  the  means  whereby  I  live,”  and  this  is  precisely  what  every 
capitalist  has  done;  they  have  made  capital  private  property,  and 
thus  deprived  the  workers  of  the  means  of  life  and  the  right  to 
live.  The  Czar  of  Russia  possessed  no  more  despotic  power  than 
that  which  the  propertied  class  exercised  over  the  propertyless. 
Every  capitalist  could  and  did  discharge  from  employment  the 
worker  or  workers  who  complained  of  the  unfair,  and  unjust,  and 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  IN  SOUTH  BEND,  IND. 


41 


cruel,  and  oppressive  conditions  under  which  they  were  forced  to 
labor.  The  power  to  withhold  bread  and  doom  the  workers  to  a 
life  of  misery,  hunger,  and  death  was  possessed  and  exercised  by  the 
capitalistic  czars  of  South  Bend,  as  everywhere  else.  The  right  to 
live  carried  with  it  the  right  to  the  free  use  of  all  the  means  of  life, 
and  those  who  were  denied  that  right  were  the  bondsmen  and  slaves 
of  those  who  do.  The  capitalistic  system  of  labor  had  divided  the 
people  into  classes,  and  had  rendered  the  natural  law,  the  solidarity 
of  interests  among  the  people,  an  impossibility.  This  system  had 
created  masters  and  slaves,  rulers  and  ruled,  robbers  and  robbed.  In 
South  Bend  Olliver,  of  the  plow  works,  who  performed  no  labor  at 
all,  received  an  income  of  $1,500  clear  profit  each  day,  while  his 
1,000  wage-slaves  did  ten  hours’  work  each  and  received  for  each 
day’s  work  in  wages  a  sum  that  was  equivalent  to  three  hours’  work. 
What  became  of  the  other  seven  hours?  Olliver  got  it,  and  this  was 
what  made  his  $1,500  per  day.  If  the  men  struck  against  these  terms 
they  were  discharged  and  made  to  suffer  the  pangs  of  hunger  and 
want.  Such  was  the  power  which  the  private-property  system  con¬ 
ferred  upon  the  owners  of  capital.  Studebaker,  and  Singer,  and  all 
the  other  property  beasts  could  and  did  exercise  the  same  despotic 
power.  Where,  then,  is  the  boasted  liberty  of  the  American  wage¬ 
worker?  In  what  does  their  freedom  consist?  They  enjoyed  the 
right  to  be  wage-slaves ;  or,  striking  and  refusing  to  be  such,  they 
were  free  to  starve ! 

Last  January  in  South  Bend  the  workers  struck  against  starva¬ 
tion  wages,  and,  driven  to  desperation  and  madness,  they  sought  to 
destroy  those  who  were  enslaving  and  destroying  them.  What  did 
the  property  class  do?  They  had  the  military  and  police  called  out  to 
arrest  and  shoot  their  rebellious  wage-slaves.  The  Grand  Army  of 
the  Republic,  which,  twenty-five  years  ago,  drew  its  sword  to  liberate 
the  black  chattel  slave  from  bondage,  came  to  South  Bend,  and  with 
gleaming  bayonets  and  flashing  swords  riveted  the  chains  of  slavery 
upon  wage-laborers  and  compelled  them  to  submit  to  the  dictation 
of  the  property  beasts. 

[Great  sensation.  The  crowd  pressed  nearer  the  speaker,  and  on 
the  outskirts  the  cry  went  up :  “That’s  a  lie,  and  the  Grand  Army 


42  A.  R.  PARSONS'  IN  SOUTH  BEND,  IND. 

will  make  you  answer  for  it.”  On  every  hand  the  workmen  shouted : 
“It  is  the  truth,  and  if  you  harm  the  speaker  it  will  be  you,  and  not 
him,  that  will  dangle  on  a  rope  from  a  tree  limb.”] 

After  order  was  restored  the  speaker  continued,  and  showed  that 
the  United  States  army  was  now  employed  in  Wyoming  Territory 
against  strikers ;  that  the  military  was  employed  in  East  Saginaw, 
Mich. ;  in  Cleveland,  O. ;  in  Lemont,  Ill. — in  fact,  it  was  employed 
wherever  the  capitalists  called  for  it  to  subjugate  their  wage-slaves, 
who  were  in  revolt  against  oppression  and  slavery.  The  speaker 
said  that  economy,  industry,  and  sobriety  were  three  virtues  which 
capitalists  never  practiced ;  that  there  could  be  no  overproduction  of 
food  when  people  perished  from  hunger,  or  overproduction  of  houses 
and  clothing  when  the  great  mass  of  the  people  were  without  homes 
and  clothed  in  rags.  Crime,  disease,  ignorance,  insanity,  suicide,  and 
all  the  ills  which  afflict  the  people  result  from  enforced  artificial  pov¬ 
erty;  and  this  poverty  was  created  by  the  private  ownership  of  the 
means  of  life — capital.  It  was  such  a  condition  of  affairs  that  was 
absolutely  certain  to  finally  create  the  social  revolution.  The  workers 
would  be  driven  by  necessity  to  revolt  and  overthrow  the  power  of 
those  who  were  growing  rich  and  thriving  upon  their  misery.  Vot¬ 
ing,  strikes,  arbitration,  etc.,  were  of  no  use.  Those  who  deprived 
the  workers  of  the  wealth  they  created,  and  held  them  by  laws  and 
the  bayonet  in  subjection,  would  never  heed  the  logic  of  anything  but 
force — physical  force — the  only  argument  that  tyrants  ever  could  or 
would  listen  to.  The  law — the  statute  law — the  Government,  was 
the  creation  of  the  privileged  class — a  class  that  lived  without  work¬ 
ing  and  became  rich  by  depriving  the  workers.  It  was  the  law  which 
had  made  the  land  private  property ;  had  done  the  same  thing  with 
machinery,  the  means  of  transportation  and  communication.  The  law 
— the  statute  law — had  made  private  property  of  all  the  means  of 
life,  dooming  the  wage-workers  to  a  life  of  hereditary  servitude  to 
the  privileged  class.  Could  we,  who  suffer  from  it,  be  expected  to 
uphold  “law  and  order,”  the  instrumentality  by  which  we  were  de¬ 
prived  of  our  right  to  life,  to  liberty,  and  happiness?  Workingmen 
and  women  of  South  Bend,  prepare  for  the  inevitable.  Join  your  com¬ 
rades  of  Chicago  and  elsewhere.  All  over  the  world  a  similar  condi* 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  IN  SOUTH  BEND,  IND. 


43 


tion  of  affairs  exists,  and  a  storm  is  brewing  which  will  break  forth 
ere  long  and  destroy  forever  the  right  of  man  to  govern,  exploit,  and 
enslave  his  fellow-man.  Agitate,  organize,  revolt ! 

The  above  was,  in  substance,  the  speech  of  Mr.  Parsons.  Through¬ 
out  he  was  cheered  enthusiastically  by  the  workingmen,  but  from  the 
labor  robbers  present  he  was  frequently  interrupted  with  threats  and 
sneers.  After  the  meeting  an  attempt  was  made  upon  the  sidewalk, 
while  going  to  his  lodging-house,  to  assault  the  speaker,  but  it  was 
prevented  by  the  workingmen  who  accompanied  him  home. 

The  meeting  created  a  profound  sensation  in  the  town.  The 
speaker  was  urged  by  a  few  workmen  who  were  clandestinely  talking 
to  him  to  remain  over  and  deliver  another  address  on  the  next  even¬ 
ing  (Friday)  at  the  same  place. 

The  following  day  the  meeting  of  the  previous  evening  was  dis¬ 
cussed  by  the  business,  professional,  manufacturers  and  other  labor 
parasites  in  a  most  excitable  manner.  The  speaker  was  warned  not 
to  speak  again  as  was  contemplated.  The  printing  offices  refused 
to  print  hand-bills,  or  publish  notices  in  the  papers  (there  are  three 
dailies  published  in  the  town)  to  notify  the  working  people  of  the 
meeting.  At  8  o’clock,  however,  at  the  same  place  Mr.  Parsons  began 
to  speak  to  an  audience  of  about  300  persons,  made  up  almost  ex¬ 
clusively  of  those  who  live  by  fleecing  the  workers.  There  had  been 
no  way  to  notify  the  wage-workers  of  the  meeting.  The  speaker 
showed  the  origin  of  Socialism  to  be  an  outgrowth  of  the  necessities 
of  the  people.  That  the  United  States  census  for  1880  gave  the  statis¬ 
tics  showing  that  of  the  16,200,000  men,  women  and  children  who 
lived  by  working  for  wages,  and  whose  labor  creates  all  the  wealth  of 
the  entire  country,  they  had  received  in  wages  a  sum  which  repre¬ 
sented  less  than  three-eighths  of  their  labor  product,  while  the  capi¬ 
talist  class,  who  were  less  than  one-tenth  of  the  people,  appropriated — 
confiscated — the  remainder — the  five-eighths.  That  the  middle  class 
were  being  devoured  by  the  larger  capitalists  and  were  driven  out  of 

t 

business,  they,  the  middle  class,  being  forced  into  the  ranks  of  the 
wage-workers. 

The  speaker  showed  the  operations  of  the  private  property  system 
in  making  the  rich  richer  and  the  poor  poorer.  He  continued  in  this 


44 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  IN  SOUTH  BEND,  IND. 


strain  for  about  an  hour  without  interruption.  He  called  attention  to 
the  fact  that  seventeen  tramps  had  only  two  months  before  been 
driven  through  the  streets  and  out  of  South  Bend  by  whips  and 
lashes  in  the  hands  of  armed  men.  That  last  winter  there  were  cases 
of  starvation  and  freezing.  That  in  the  Olliver  Plow  Works,  where 
the  steel  points  to  the  plows  were  ground,  men  were  killed  by  a 
malady  called  the  “Olliver  consumption.”  This  disease  was  caused 
by  the  fine  steel  dust  and  sand  dust  that  was  thrown  off  in  fine  powder 
while  the  men  were  grinding  the  plow  points.  Physicians  said  that 
one  year  at  such  employment  destroyed  a  man's  life,  and  the  dust 
could  never  be  got  from  the  lungs  and  death  was  inevitable.  The 
speaker  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  sixty-seven  able-bodied  men 
in  the  prime  of  life  had  been  murdered  at  this  occupation  and  Olliver 
was  the  recipient  of  their  blood  money,  and  their  wives  and  children 
were  paupers  and  outcasts.  He  then,  to  substantiate  what  he  stated, 
said  that  he  had  a  man  named  Valentine  Ruter  whom  he  would  ex¬ 
hibit.  He  asked  his  audience  to  look  upon  this  man  not  yet  thirty- 
five  years  of  age.  He  was  a  worker  in  the  grinding  mill.  This  man 
had  worked  in  the  plow  works  for  four  years.  He  was  discharged, 
because  he  was  broken  down  and  could  no  longer  work,  over  a  year 
and  a  half  ago.  Since  that  time  he  has  had  to  feed  his  wife,  himself 
and  three  children,  aged  five,  three  and  two  years  respectively,  on 
one  dollar  and  fifty  cents  per  week ,  given  them  by  the  town  trustee ! 

This  man  had  four  brothers,  young  and  able-bodied,  each  of 
whom  had  been  killed  in  the  grinding  mill  in  the  past  four  years.  His 
own  disease  is  incurable  and  death  will  speedily  put  an  end  to  his 
miseries.  [The  man  then  took  his  seat.  There  was  a  sensation 
among  the  crowd.  Men  shook  their  heads  and  muttered  in  low  tones 
to  each  other.] 

The  speaker  said :  “This  victim  is  still  alive.  He  is  here  to  haunt 
his  destroyer.  He,  too,  will  soon  rest  in  his  grave ;  but  his  brothers, 
the  four  whose  bones  lie  rotting  in  the  paupers’  field,  or  have  been 
hewn  up  in  the  dissecting  room,  they,  alas !  are  not  here.  But  they 
are  here  in  my  presence  as  avenging  Nemesis.  The  property  beast 
has  devoured  them,  coined  their  life  blood  into  flashing  jewels,  and 
has  made  of  their  sweat  and  tears  vast  wealth,  power  and  palaces  in 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  IN  SOUTH  BEND,  IND. 


45 


which  the  despoiler  dwells.  Oh,  friends,  this  is  horrible,  and  ye  who 
profit  by  it,  ye  wear  the  brand  of  Cain  upon  your  hearts.” 

[The  crowd  swayed  to  and  fro  and  it  could  be  seen  that  they  were 
deeply  moved,  nearly  all  present  being  Bourgeoisie .] 

The  speaker  called  the  name  of  Martin  Pauliski,  who  stepped  up 
beside  him.  “This  man,”  said  the  speaker,  “has  worked  for  the 
Studebakers’  wagon  and  carriage  factory  for  eight  years.  Exposure, 
bad  food,  and  overwork  has  brought  on  rheumatism.  He  was  unable 
to  work  and  was  discharged  over  a  year  ago.  His  wife,  when  the 
family  was  freezing  last  winter,  went  to  the  Studebakers  and  obtained 
a  cord  of  wood.  Not  long  after  the  sick  man  was  told  to  come  and 
work.  He  did  so,  and  when  his  labor  had  paid  for  the  wood  he  was 
turned  adrift  again  to  starve  and  freeze.  These  men  are  but  samples 
of  capitalistic  lepers.  There  are  hundreds  of  such  victims  in  this 
town.  His  exploiter,  Studebaker,  is  worth  ten  million  dollars.  Olliver 
is  a  millionaire.  He  has  over  a.  hundred  little  shanties  that  cost  him 
about  $200  each.  He  .rents  these  to  his  workmen  for  $5  per  month, 
and  this  makes  each  house  and  lot  pay  for  itself  every  three  years. 
He,  with  Studebaker,  each  gave  $500  toward  the  erection  of  a  church, 
where  these,  their  victims,  were  taught  that  they  must  be  content  with 
that  station  in  life  to  which  it  had  pleased  God  to  call  them.” 

[The  bourgeoisie  audience  were  becoming  impatient.  Small  knots 
of  men  went  now  and  then  to  one  side  and  held  a  subdued  consulta¬ 
tion.  The  time  for  the  emuete  had  arrived.] 

At  this  juncture  a  man  in  police  uniform  stepped  up  behind  the 
speaker,  laid  his  hand  on  his  shoulder  and  said :  “Sir,  if  you  continue 
to  incite  the  people,  I  will  arrest  you.”  At  this  signal  the  profit- 
mongers,  rent-takers,  and  usury-gatherers  around  sent  up  a  shout  of 
exultation,  and  cries  were  made :  “Knock  him  off !”  “Hit  him !”  “Pull 
him  down!”  “String  him  up!”  “Rotten  egg  him!”  etc.,  etc.,  making 
a  perfect  pandemonium  of  threats  and  insults.  The  speaker  asked  the 
officer  who  he  was  and  what  was  his  name,  and  was  answered :  “It 
is  none  of  your  business,  sir.”  The  speaker  turned  to  the  turbulent 
crowd  and  told  them  that  they,  not  the  workingmen,  were  the  breed¬ 
ers  of  riots  and  revolution.  They  drove  the  workers  to  desperation 
and  despair.  He  asked  the  authorities  why  they  didn’t  arrest  those 
men  who  were  disturbing  the  meeting  and  threatening  the  speaker 


46 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  IN  SOUTH  BEND,  IND. 


with  lynching.  He  called  the  working  people  present  to  witness  that 
in  South  Bend,  as  everywhere,  the  authorities  and  the  “law  and 
order”  people  were  the  enemies  of  the  poor,  and  that  it  was  the  sole 
mission  of  government  and  its  authority  to  keep  and  hold  the  wage 
slaves  in  their  slavery.  There  was  continued  interruption  and  threats, 
but  for  a  half  hour  longer  the  speaker  urged  as  the  only  hope  of  labor 
for  deliverance  from  bondage  to  capital  was  to  organize,  arm  and 
prepare  for  the  final  struggle  between  the  master  and  his  slave,  be¬ 
tween  the  enemies  of  progress  and  liberty  and  the  defenders  of  Lib¬ 
erty,  Fraternity,  Equality;  a  victory  that  would  secure  to  every 
human  being  an  equal  voice  in  all  the  affairs  of  human  existence. 

The  meeting  then  closed  with  cheers  for  the  social  revolution. 

The  papers  of  the  town  were  filled  with  abuse  and  ridicule  of  the 
meeting.  The  people  were  stirred,  however,  to  a  depth  never  known 
before,  and  some  day  there  will  be  a  terrible  harvest  for  those  South 
Bend  czars  who  fatten  and  thrive  upon  the  miseries,  degradation  and 
slavery  of  the  workers. 


CHAPTER  II. 


THE  LEMONT  MASSACRE. 

The  Strike  of  the  Quarrymen  in  Lemont,  Lockport  and  Joliet — 
The  Sheriff  Invokes  the  Aid  of  the  Militia — Boss  Singer 
Throws  a  Man  Through  the  Postoffice  Window — The 
Sheriff  Reads  the  Riot  Act — Indignation  of  the  People — 
The  Militia  Enters  Lemont — Terrorizing  the  Inhabi¬ 
tants — The  Massacre — “Termagants" — One  Law  for  the 
Rich,  Another  for  the  Poor — Militiamen  March  Around 
in  Platoons  to  Prevent  Being  Mobbed — Conditions  of  the 
Quarrymen — Lessons  of  the  Strike. 

Taken  from  “ The  Alarm”  of  May  16,  1885. 

A  strike  of  considerable  proportions  began  among  the  stonequar- 
rymen  of  Lemont,  Lockport,  and  Joliet  about  four  weeks  ago.  The 
demand  was  made  for  a  uniform  scale  of  wages  and  the  restoration 
of  last  year’s  rates.  There  were  about  3,000  men  engaged  in  the 
movement,  including  the  quarries  at  the  towns  mentioned  above.  The 
usual  tactics  of  the  propertied  class  were  resorted  to  to  defeat  the 
strikers.  They  endeavored  to  fill  the  quarries  with  men  who  have 
for  a  long  time  been  kept  in  compulsory  idleness,  and  whose  neces¬ 
sities  were  consequently  very  great  and  pressing.  As  is  the  usual 
custom  with  unionists  and  strikers  generally,  the  men  sought  to  pre¬ 
vent  the  employment  of  these  substitutes  by  any  means  at  their  dispo¬ 
sal.  The  capitalists,  as  usual  in  such  conflicts  with  their  employes, 
fell  back  upon  the  law  and  called  upon  the  Sheriff  to  protect  them 
in  their  legal  right  to  employ  or  discharge  whomsoever  they  please. 
The  Sheriff  replied  that,  owing  to  the  large  body  of  men  and  their 
determination  to  fix  the  price  of  their  own  labor ;  it  would  be  neces¬ 
sary  for  him  to  obtain  the  assistance  of  the  military  to  protect  the 
legal  rights  of  the  employers.  This  latter  statement  suited  the  quar- 


47 


48 


THE  LEMONT  MASSACRE. 


ry-owners  exactly,  and  the  Sheriff  accordingly  made  a  statement  to 
the  Governor  of  the  State,  who  is  also  Commander-in-Chief  of  the 
militia,  that  he  was  unable  to  maintain  order  and  enforce  the  law, 
and  therefore  required  the  presence  of  the  military  to  assist  him.  The 
Governor,  acting  in  accordance  with  the  constitution  and  the  statute 
law,  sent  four  companies,  numbering  about  230  men,  armed  with 
breech-loading  rifles,  revolvers,  and  a  gatling  gun  to  maintain  “law 
and  order”  around  the  stone  quarries.  It  will  be  seen  that  in  this 
whole  procedure  the  “authorities”  and  the  quarry-owners  acted  in 
strict  accordance  with  the  statute  law  and  the  constitution  through¬ 
out,  and  the  account  of  their  action  which  follows  will  go  far  toward 
aiding  working  people  to  understand  what  the  preservation  of  so- 
called  “law  and  order”  means. 

Monday,  May  4,  was  the  day  set  for  the  entrance  of  the  military 
into  the  heretofore  hum-drum  village  of  Lemont.  All  was  excite¬ 
ment  over  the  event,  and  the  1,500  quarrymen  who  constituted  the 
inhabitants  of  that  quiet  little  town  were  loud  in  their  expressions  of 
indignation  over  the  contemplated  invasion. 

The  people  were  strolling  around  the  streets  on  Monday  morning 
about  7  130  o’clock,  when  H.  M.  Singer,  who  has  signalized  himself 
by  his  brutality  and  tyranny  over  the  people,  rode  up  in  his  buggy, 
got  out,  and  entered  the  postoffice.  At  the  same  time  another  per¬ 
son  went  into  the  office  to  get  or  inquire  for  his  mail,  when  the  despot 
Singer  turned  around,  grasped  the  man,  and  dashed  him  through  the 
window  onto  the  sidewalk.  This  occurrence  naturally  brought  to¬ 
gether  a  large  crowd  of  people,  who  were  indignant  at  the  outrage. 
Thereupon  the  Sheriff  of  Cook  county  sprang  up  on  a  dry-goods  box 
and  read  the  riot  act  to  the  people,  commanding  them  to  disperse  to 
their  homes,  and  at  the  conclusion  of  which  he  said:  “Now,  men,  I 
warn  you,  that  if  you  do  not  go  to  work  at  once  for  $1.50  a  day  the 
military  will  be  sent  here  to  compel  you  to  do  it.” 

The  people  were  made  all  the  more  excited  and  indignant  at  this 
exhibition  of  “authority,”  and  many  were  the  expressions  to  be  heard 
on  every  hand  of  condemnation  against  the  Sheriff  and  Singer.  The 
people  said  to  one  another :  “Are  we  in  this  manner  to  be  driven  to 
our  work  like  galley-slaves  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet  ?”  The  Sheriff 


THE  LEMONT  MASSACRE. 


49 


was  under  the  constant  direction  of  H.  M.  Singer,  who  acted  as  the 
representative  of  the  Quarry-Owners’  Association. 

It  was  intended  that  the  above  act  should  be  the  inauguration  of 
hostilities,  for  H.  M.  Singer,  accompanied  by  the  Sheriff,  telegraphed 
the  order  for  the  militia  to  advance  toward  the  town.  The  Chicago 
&  Alton  railroad,  with  that  alacrity  becoming  in  a  fellow-monopolist 
and  labor  exploiter,  quickly  placed  a  train  at  the  disposal  of  the  labor 
robbers,  and  the  troops  were  brought  up  and  landed  at  a  point  one 
and  one-half  miles  south  of  the  town  of  Lemont,  just  outside  of  the 
county  line  of  Cook  county.  By  io  o’clock  a.  m.  their  bristling 
bayonets  were  seen  flashing  in  the  sunlight  as  they  advanced  upon 
the  town  by  the  main  thoroughfare  leading  in  that  direction. 

The  Town  Marshal  and  Supervisor,  whose  sympathies  were  out¬ 
spoken  with  the  strikers,  acting  on  the  part  of  their  constituencies, 
advanced  down  the  road,  intercepted  the  militia,  and  ordered  them 
not  to  enter  the  town.  Col.  Bennett,  the  commanding  officer,  ordered 
them  to  get  out  of  the  way  or  he  would  place  them  under  arrest. 

The  troops  continued  to  advance  until  they  reached  the  center  of 
the  town,  which  is  located  mainly  upon  a  long  street  running  parallel 
with  the  canal,  the  river,  and  the  quarries  at  that  point.  Here  the 
people — men,  women  and  children — of  the  whole  village  were  as¬ 
sembled  upon  the  sidewalks.  The  excitement  ran  high,  and  some 
used  some  very  uncomplimentary  words  toward  the  quarry-owners 
and  authorities  who  had  brought  these  bandits  of  “law  and  order” 
among  them.  It  is  said  that  a  few  stones  were  thrown  at  the  soldiers 
and  that  a  pistol-shot  was  fired  by  some  citizen ;  but  the  soldiery 
opened  fire  upon  the  people  and  killed  two  men  upon  the  spot,  and 
bayoneted  and  sabered  two  others,  who  have  died  from  their  wounds 
since.  Several  other  men  and  a  number  of  women  were  prodded  with 
bayonets  and  clubbed  with  the  butts  of  muskets. 

The  people  were  terrified.  They  were  wholly  unarmed  and  abso¬ 
lutely  defenseless.  Confronted  by  these  armed  hirelings  of  capital, 
they  fled  for  their  lives  to  shelter.  The  shrieks  of  wounded  and  dying 
men  and  women  filled  the  air ;  the  warm  blood  of  the  people  bathed 
the  flagstones  of  the  sidewalks.  The  loss  was  entirely  on  the  side  of 
labor,  which  was,  after  having  been  robbed,  now  being  murdered. 


50 


THE  LEMONT  MASSACRE. 


The  army  of  capitalism  moved  forward  through  the  village,  and, 
halting  at  a  commanding  hill  which  overlooked  the  town  and  quar¬ 
ries,  these  capitalistic  marauders  of 'the  people  struck  camp,  where 
they  have  remained  since  and  kept  the  villagers  under  the  shadows  of 
their  guns. 

Andrew  Stulata,  the  top  of  whose  head  was  blown  off  by  a  shot 
from  the  troops,  was  standing  just  on  the  inward  edge  of  the  side¬ 
walk  on  a  vacant  lot  with  both  hands  stretched  out  in  the  act  of 
holding  the  little  group  of  children  back  from  the  street,  twenty- 
five  or  thirty  of  whom  had  assembled  there  to  witness  the  sight  of 
the  troops.  His  blood  and  brains  were  scattered  over  the  little 
ones ;  he  fell  and  was  afterward  carried  to  his  home  by  weeping 
friends.  Several  houses  along  the  street  were  fired  into.  One  house, 
occupied  by  a  quarry  laborer’s  family,  received  two  rifle-balls.  The 
lady,  a  9-year-old  girl,  and  a  2-year-old  child  were  at  the  windows 
viewing  the  troops  when  a  ball  came  crashing  through  the  wall 
within  a  few  inches  of  their  heads,  and,  striking  the  wall  opposite 
inside,  fell  battered  upon  the  floor. 

The  legal  bandits  chased  the  people  into  their  houses,  and  with 
the  butt  of  bayonets  drove  the  women  up-stairs.  One  woman  was 
being  clubbed  and  chased  up  the  street,  when  she  turned  and  with 
the  fury  of  desperation  sought  to  wrest  the  gun  from  her  assailant. 
Jac  Kujawa  ran  to  her  rescue,  and,  separating  them,  he  was  taking 
the  woman  home,  when  about  thirty  paces  away  he  was  shot  through 
the  head  and  fell  dead  in  his  tracks,  where  he  was  left  to  welter  in  his 
gore  for  two  hours  afterward.  Father  James  Hogan,  the  Irish 
Catholic  priest  at  Lemont,  who  was  standing  near  by  and  witnessed 
the  dastardly  deed,  raised  his  clenched  hands  and  shaking  them  at 
the  bandits,  said:  “You  cold-blooded  murderers,  lay  down  your 
arms.  You  have  murdered  the  man.”  The  militiamen  replied:  “If 
you  don’t  get  inside  the  house  we’ll  drop  you,  too.”  The  priest  paid 
no  attention,  but  went  to  the  dying  man  and  on  bended  knees  ad¬ 
ministered  the  death  sacrament. 

Little  Mary,  the  bright  9-year-old  sister  of  the  young  man  An¬ 
drew  Stulata,  who  was  murdered  by  the  bandits  of  “law  and  order,” 
upon  seeing  our  reporter,  who  visited  the  remains  in  the  house  of 


THE  LEMONT  MASSACRE. 


51 


his  parents,  ran  up  to  him  and  said,  while  the  tears  rolled  down  her 
'face :  “Oh,  sir,  they  killed  my  poor,  poor  brother.  He  did  no  harm 
to  any  one.  He  was  so  kind  and  good ;  and  oh,  sir,  those  bad  men 
came  to  his  corpse  and  laughed  at  him  and  us;  oh,  sir,  what  shall 
we  do?” 

Both  of  these  men  were  highly  respected  and  beloved  by  the 
entire  village  of  Lemont. 

The  bandits  of  “law  and  order”  have  rested  on  their  laurels,  vary¬ 
ing  the  pastimes  of  their  camp  life  with  catching  and  milking  the 
cows  of  the  dairymen  who  have  pastured  their  cattle  thereabouts 
and  an  occasional  sally  into  the  town  with  a  platoon  of  soldiers  to 
the  depot  when  trains  arrive  and  depart. 

4^  4*  4*  4*  4f  4< 

■'T*  'T'  'I'  "T*  V*  T*  'P 

The  women  of  Lemont,  having  committed  the  crime  of  living 
in  poor  tenements  and  wearing  the  common  garments  which  the  in¬ 
dustry  of  their  labor  provides  them  with,  are  spoken  of  in  the  cap¬ 
italistic  press  reports  as  “termagants,”  “viragos,”  etc.  These  women, 
the  wives  and  daughters  of  workingmen,  were  bayoneted  by  the 
soldiers  of  capitalism,  their  only  crime  being  they  do  not  wear  seal¬ 
skin  dolmans  and  belong  to  the  “better  classes.” 

In  a  conversation  with  Coroner  Hertz  about  the  refusal  of  Col. 
Bennett,  commanding  the  State  bandits  at  Lemont,  to  appear  and 
testify  before  the  Coroner’s  inquest,  he  said:  “Yes,  sir,  it  has  come 
to  this  pass,  and  it  is  true  that  there  is  now  no  law  for  the  poor.  If 
you  have  money,  if  you  are  rich,  it  is  all  right  with  you  then.”  The 
Coroner  declared  that  according  to  the  constitution  the  “military  was 
held  in  subjection  to  the  civil  authorities;”  “but,”  said  he,  “there  is 
no  defense  for  the  poor ;  the  law  protects  the  rich  only.” 

The  day  following  the  slaughter  at  Lemont  our  reporter  was 
again  upon  the  scene  and  gathered  the  following  items : 

On  arriving  from  Chicago  at  the  depot  in  Lemont,  a  platoon  of 
twelve  militiamen  were  present  and  drawn  up  in  line  as  an  escort  to 
one  of  their  number  who  desired  to  take  the  train  and  return  home. 
Upon  inquiry  it  was  ascertained  that  these  bandits  of  law  and  order 
are  compelled  to  come  in  platoons  to  the  train  on  every  such  occasion 
in  order  to  prevent  the  people  from  mobbing  them. 


52 


THE  LEMONT  MASSACRE. 


Leaving  the  depot  and  stopping  at  the  restaurant  on  the  corner, 
we  met  several  reporters  of  the  Chicago  capitalistic  press,  who  were 
being  roundly  abused  by  some  of  thd  Lemont  citizens,  both  workers 
and  business  men,  for  the  false  and  slanderous  reports  sent  out  daily 
from  Lemont.  The  reporters  answered  that  they  were  not  to  blame, 
as  they  took  the  statements  of  the  “authorities”  each  day.  It  was 
made  perfectly  plain,  however,  that  the  reporters  of  the  capitalistic 
papers  are  more  than  anxious  to  accept  the  statements  of  the 
“authorities”  and  reject  or  misrepresent  those  of  the  people  who  are 
being  murdered,  insulted,  and  lied  about  by  the  so-called  authorities 
now  dominating  the  people  of  Lemont. 

A  reporter  told  me  that  the  following  note  had  been  handed  to 
the  wife  of  a  man  who  wanted  to  go  to  work  at  Singer  &  Talcott’s 
quarry : 

Keep  Pat  at  home  to-morrow,  or  your  house  will  be  burned  at  night. 

Of  course,  this  note  is  a  forgery.  Everybody  in  Lemont  says 
it  is  a  trick  of  the  quarry-owners  to  make  out  some  reason  for  keep¬ 
ing  the  military  in  the  town.  The  people  of  Lemont  know  that  it 
was  written  or  instigated  by  some  one  of  the  many  detectives  which 
Despot  Singer  and  his  gang  of  robbers  have  employed  to  oppress  and 
spy  among  their  slaves. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  business  men  held  the  day  before  it  was 
proposed  to  appoint  a  committee  of  the  strikers  to  wait  upon  the 
bosses  and  try  to  bring  about  a  settlement  of  the  difficulty.  Mr. 
Murphy,  who  is  one  of  the  largest  dry-goods  and  grocery  merchants 
in  the  town,  said  it  would  not  do  to  appoint  such  a  committee,  as  the 
men  who  acted  on  it  would  be  discharged  and  lose  their  bread  for 
acting  in  such  a  manner,  and  gave  instances  where  men  had  been  dis¬ 
charged  before  by  Singer  and  other  bosses  for  serving  on  simila4* 
committees. 

Polus,  the  man  who  received  a  bayonet-thrust  which  entered  the 
breast  to  the  backbone,  and  a  saber-wound  in  his  side,  died  of  his 
wounds  yesterday.  He  was  48  years  old  and  leaves  a  wife  and  six 
children.  His  family  are  utterly  destitute,  and  the  neighbors  have  to 
supply  them  with  food  to  keep  them  from  starving.'  A  subscription 


THE  LEMONT  MASSACRE. 


53 


list  was  circulated  yesterday  among  the  people  to  bury  the  murdered 
man. 

A  stone-quarry  man  is  paid  $1.50  per  day.  He  gets  work  about 
six  months  in  the  year.  This  makes  an  average  of  about  6 2\  cents 
per  day.  This  is  the  sum  upon  which  the  quarry  bosses  are  com¬ 
pelling  a  man  to  live  and  support  a  family  of  eight  persons,  and  when 
the  worker  refuses  to  submit  to  it  they  are  put  to  death  by  sword, 
bayonet,  and  bullet  in  the  hands  of  the  “authorities.” 

About  the  time  of  the  arrival  of  the  noon  train  from  Chicago  a 
crowd  of  200  or  300  persons  assembled  at  the  depot,  as  they  have 
been  doing  since  the  trouble  with  the  authorities  began.  A  squad 
of  fourteen  soldiers  also  come  to  the  depot  with  fixed  bayonets, 
loaded  rifles,  and  belts  containing  forty  rounds  of  cartridges,  and 
a  Colt’s  navy  six-shooter  suspended  to  a  belt  around  their  waists. 
When  the  train  left  the  depot  the  officer  gave  the  command  to 
“about  face  and  forward,”  and  they  marched  back  to  their  camp.  Not 
a  word  was  spoken  by  any  one  in  the  sullen  crowd,  but  many  men 
gritted  their  teeth  and  looked  daggers  at  the  ruthless  murder¬ 
ers  who  are  making  this  display  of  “authority”  in  their  midst.  The 
camp  is  about  a  mile  from  the  depot  on  a  hill  overlooking  the  prin¬ 
cipal  quarries.  No  approach  is  allowed  to  the  camp,  which  has  a 
line  of  guards  around  it.  There  is  one  gatling  gun  and  about  230 
soldiers  in  the  encampment.  Their  marches  to  and  from  the  depot 
and  around  the  town  are  a  source  of  great  irritation  to  the  people, 
who  are  unarmed  and  powerless  to  protect  themselves.  As  the  train 
pulled  out  and  the  military  marched  away  from  the  depot  the  station 
agent,  Tom  Huston,  stood  before  the  crowds  and  began  to  drive  them 
off  the  platform  of  the  depot,  sayin’g :  “Get  away  from  here.  Stand 
aside.  I  have  had  to  take  unnecessary  trouble.  It  is  an  imposition  on 
me  and  the  company  for  you  to  stand  around  here.  I  am  dependent 
on  my  wages  for  my  living  the  same  as  you  are,  and  the  company 
holds  me  responsible  for  not  ordering  you  away.  I  have  always  tried 
to  treat  you  all  well.  You  are  here  at  every  train.  You  are  in  the 
way.  Move  on ;  move  on.  You  block  up  the  sidewalk.  You  are  here 
at  every  train  arrival  and  you  ought  to  have  sense  enough  to  stay 
away  from  here,”  and  the  crowd,  with  the  fear  of  the  military  before 
its  eyes,  mutteringly  dispersed. 


54 


THE  LEMONT  MASSACRE. 


At  3  o’clock  in  the  afternoon  a  meeting  of  the  strikers  was 
assembled  in  the  hall  and  called  to  order  by  the  Town  Supervisor, 
Mr.  McCarthy.  Before  the  meeting  opened  two  Deputy  Sheriffs 
who  had  sneaked  in  were  requested  to  get  out.  All  capitalistic  re¬ 
porters  were  excluded,  the  only  reporter  who  was  permitted  to  be 
present  being  the  reporter  for  the  Alarm  and  Arbeiter-Zeitung.  The 
men  seemed  afraid  to  speak,  and  after  the  Chairman  had  called  on 
the  audience  several  times  without  any  response,  the  audience  in 
turn  called  upon  Mr.  A.  R.  Parsons  to  speak.  Mr.  Parsons  de¬ 
clined,  but  they  insisted,  when  he  made  a  few  remarks  upon  the 
necessity  of  organization,  at  the  conclusion  of  which  several  of  the 
men  objected  to  taking  such  action.  One  of  the  men  spoke  up  and 
said:  “We  are  assembled  here  to  consider  what  to  do.  We  have 
got  the  military  in  our  town ;  we  are  under  intimidation.  We  want 
the  military  to  leave  our  town  and  let  us  alone.  If  we  organize 
now  it  will  be  the  means  of  losing  our  bread  forever,  and  probably 
our  lives  besides.” 

Another  speaker  said :  “We  can’t  organize.  The  bosses  would 
break  it  up;  they  did  it  before.  It  would  not  be  allowed.  They 
would  starve  us  out  and  break  it  up.”  ' 

Mr.  Parsons  answered  and  said :  “Then  you  are  slaves.” 

The  men  hung  their  heads,  and  with  tears  in  their  eyes  several 
of  them  replied :  “Alas,  sir,  it  is  too  true.” 

Another  speaker  then  said :  “As  we  have  started  and  have  lived 
so  far  without  bread,  we  must  keep  on  with  our  struggle  against  the 
bosses.  We  don’t  want  those  blue-jackets  on  the  hill  to  kill  the  people 
for  nothing.”  (Great  cheering.) 

There  were  such  expressions  as  “We  will  stick  for  our  rights,” 
“We  will  not  go  to  work,”  “We  will  stand  out,”  “Let  us  keep  out 
until  we  get  our  wages,”  etc.  The  meeting  was  unanimous  in  stay¬ 
ing  out  until  the  wages  demanded  were  paid. 

A  committee  of  eight,  composed  of  two  persons  each  from  the 
Polish,  Swedish,  German,  and  Irish  nationalities,  was  appointed  to 

o 

wait  upon  the  quarry-owners  and  tell  them  what  they  want,  and 
report  back  to  a  meeting  to  be  held  for  that  purpose.  The  meeting 
resolved  to  stand  by  the  committee  and  help  them  to  the  last  if  the 


THE  LEMONT  MASSACRE. 


55 


bosses  should  victimize  them  for  acting  in  such  a  capacity.  The 
Town  Supervisor  advised  them  to>  appoint  the  committee  and  stated 
that  he  thought  they  would  not  suffer,  when  an  Irishman  spoke  out 
and  said :  “If  it  do,  sir,  thank  God,  sir,  you  can  support  them” 
(great  laughter),  when  Mr.  McCarthy  said:  “That  knocks  me  out.” 

After  appointing  the  committee  the  meeting  adjourned. 

The  meeting  was  conducted  mainly  by  Irishmen,  the  Chairman, 
Secretary,  etc.,  being  Irish,  and  is  proof  that  there  is  no'  word  of 
truth  in  the  capitalistic  newspaper  reports  that  this  strike  is  being 
conducted  by  Poles  and  Bohemians  alone. 

The  lesson  of  this  strike  will  be  worth  to  workingmen  all  that  it 
has  cost  if  it  is  carefully  considered  and  taken  to  heart ;  that  they  must 
organize  for  the  purpose  of  offering  opposition  to  the  oppressing 
class ;  that  without  organization  they  are  weak  and  helpless  slaves. 

The  strike  ended  last  Wednesday,  the  men  being  compelled  to  go 
to  work  at  the  quarry-owners’  terms.  The  quarry-owners  now  intend 
to  open  “truck”  stores  in  retaliation  for  the  friendly  feeling  expressed 
by  the  business  men  of  Lemont  toward  the  strikers. 


f 


CHAPTER  III. 

OBSERVING  THANKSGIVING  DAY. 

Chicago  Workingmen  Hold  a  Large  Indignation  Meeting  in 
Market  Square — Vigorous  Resolutions  of  Protest  Unani¬ 
mously  Adopted — Mr.  Parsons'  Address — Why  Should  the 
Wage  Slaves  Give  Thanks?  And  To  Whom:  God  or  Mas¬ 
ter? — Palaces  and  Hovels — Government  Protects  the 
Right  of  the  "Boss"  to  Buy  Cheap  Labor — The  Flag  of 
Authority  vs.  the  Flag  of  Liberty — Thankful  for  the 
Approaching  Dawn. 

Taken  from  the  “Alarm”  of  November  28,  1885. 

The  day  set  apart  by  the  well-fed,  well-clothed,  well-housed,  and 
well-to-do  classes  to  return  thanks  for  the  success  that  crowned 
their  efforts  to  exploit  the  working  class  during  the  past  year  was 
Thursday,  November  26.  It  was  a  dreary,  cold,  wet,  and  uncom¬ 
fortable  day  for  the  half-fed,  scantily-clothed,  poorly-housed,  and 
poverty-stricken  working  class,  who  had  been  the  victims  of  the 
God-and-morality  "better  classes”  the  past  year. 

The  working  people  of  Chicago  felt  the  sting' of  the  insult  and 
the  hollow  mockery  conveyed  in  the  chief  ruler’s  proclamation  com¬ 
manding  the  people  to  “return  thanks”  for  the  miserable  existence 
they  were  compelled  to>  endure.  The  Internationalists  therefore 
arranged  for  an  indignation  meeting  of  the  working  people,  to  whom 
was  addressed  the  following  announcement: 

Grand  Thanksgiving  services  of  the  Chicago  workingmen,  tramps,  and  all 
others  who  are  despoiled  and  disfranchised,  on  Market  square  (Randolph 
and  Market  streets),  Thanksgiving  day,  Thursday,  November  26,  1885,  at 
2  130  o’clock  p.  m.  Good  “preachers”  of  the  gospel  of  humanity  will  officiate. 
Everyone  is  invited.  Learn  how  turkeys  and  other  nice  things  may  be  pro¬ 
cured.  The  Committee  of  the  Grateful. 


56 


OBSERVING  THANKSGIVING  DAY. 


57 


At  the  hour  named  several  hundred  men  and  women  had  as¬ 
sembled  at  the  corner  of  Washington  and  Market  streets,  where  a 
large  red  flag  wavered  from  the  top  of  a  pile  of  salt-barrels  which 
covered  the  sidewalk.  By  the  time  the  meeting  was  called  to  order 
some  2,000  persons  stood  in  the  mud  and  slush,  and  cold,  piercing 
wind  which  was  the  ideal  of  a  raw,  chilly  November  day. 

William  Holmes  read  the  following  resolutions,  which  were 
unanimously  adopted: 

Whereas,  The  President  of  the  United  States  has  issued  his  annual  proc¬ 
lamation,  calling  upon  the  people  as  a  whole  to  give  thanks  for  prosperity, 
of  which  but  few  of  themi  have  a  share,  and  reiterating  the  lies  so  often 
repeated  about  the  well-being  of  the  nation ;  and 

Whereas,  The  existence  of  a  vast  army  of  homeless  wanderers,  scarcity 
of  employment,  business  depression,  and  the  poverty  and  wretchedness  of 
a  large  majority  of  the  people  give  the  lie  to  the  statement  that  abundant 
prosperity  prevails.  No  nation  can  be  prosperous  and  contented  where,  in 
the  banquet  of  life,  a  small  number  monopolize  the  general  product,  while 
the  many  are  denied  a  place  at  nature’s  table ;  therefore 

Resolved,  By  this  mass-meeting  of  all  classes  of  citizens,  that  we  vote  our 
vigorous  protest  against  the  above-named  proclamation  at  this  time;  that  it 
is  a  lie — a  stupid,  hollowy  mockery — a  sop  thrown  out  by  the  ruling  classes 
to  tickle  the  palates  of  their  ignorant  dupes  and  slaves  that  they  may  with 
better  security  continue  to  rob  them.  We  reiterate  the  statement  that  only 
when  the  people  shall  have  come  to  their  own — when  land  and  the  natural 
resources  of  the  earth  shall  have  become  free ;  when  liberty  shall  have  become 
a  practical  reality,  and  when  the  beast  of  private  property  in  the  means  of 
life  shall  have  ceased  to  sap  the  energies  of  the  people;  when  poverty  and 
the  fear  of  want  shall  have  been  abolished  from  the  face  of  the  earth — 
then,  and  not  until  then,  shall  we  have  cause,  as  a  people,  to  give  thanks 
for  our  abundant  prosperity. 

A.  R.  Parsons  mounted  a  pile  of  the  salt-barrels,  and,  using  them 
as  a  stand,  was  introduced  as  the  first  speaker.  Referring  to  the 
proclamation  of  the  President  calling  upon  the  people  to  return 
thanks,  Mr.  Parsons  asked  to  whom  should  the  wage-workers  offer 
thanks,  and  for  what?  Were  they  to  be  thankful  for  the  hard  times 
which  makes  the  life  of  the  wage-worker  an  intense  struggle  for 
bread,  and  often  times  unable  to  procure  even  that ;  were  they  to  be 
thankful  for  pauper  wages  and  the  miseries  which  follow  a  life  of 
drudgery  and  poverty,  and  resign  themselves  and  contentedly  ac- 


58 


OBSERVING  THANKSGIVING  DAY. 


cept  the  station  of  a  menial  as  an  act  of  divine  providence?  No, 
perish  the  thought.  Shall  the  plundered  workers  return  thanks  to 
their  despoilers,  who  give  charity  to  hide  their  blushes  when  they 
look  into  the  faces  of  their  victims?  Shall  the  disinherited,  who 
have  by  legal  enactments  been  debarred  their  natural  right  to  an 
equal  and  free  use  of  all  natural  and  social  forces,  return  thanks 
for  the  soup-houses,  poor-houses,  wood-yards,  and  other  charitable 
institutions?  Shall  the  workers  give  thanks  because  they  receive 
two  hours’  pay  for  ten  hours’  work?  Are  they  to  be  thankful  for  the 
compulsory  idleness  of  over  2,000,000  of  their  fellow-workmen? 
Thankful  for  an  employer,  a  ‘‘boss”  whose  “business”  it  is  to  take 
something  for  nothing,  and  force  them  to  accept  the  terms  or  starve  ? 
Thankful  for  a  Republican  form  of  Government  which  guarantees 
free  speech,  free  ballot,  free  press,  and  free  action  to  the  propertied 
class ;  a  Government  with  its  declaration  of  independence,  constitu¬ 
tion,  and  stars-and-stripes  to  defend  and  protect  the  robbers  of  labor, 
while  it  imprisons,  shoots,  and  hangs  the  disloyal,  rebellious  wage- 
slave?  The  First  regiment,  Illinois  State  Guards,  is  at  this  moment 
practicing  the  evolutions  of  the  “street  riot  drill”  in  another  part  of 
the  city  for  the  purpose  of  murdering  in  an  expeditious  and  scientific 
manner  the  men  and  women  whom  the  present  system  has  turned 
adrift  to  starve.  Shall  the  workers  be  thankful  for  that  ?  Shall  they 
be  thankful  that  capitalists  the  past  year  have  employed  the  Pinker¬ 
ton  thugs,  the  police,  and  military  to  subjugate  the  workers  in  re¬ 
volt  against  starvation  wages?  Shall  thanks  be.  returned  that  the 
Almighty  God  blesses  the  wrong-doer  with  riches,  making  paradise 
for  them  out  of  the  hells  of  the  poor?  Shall  we  be  thankful  for 
privation,  for  slavery,  for  poverty?  No.  Curses  bitter  and  deep  are 
hereby  and  now  returned  to  the  author  of  our  woes,  be  that  God  or 
man ! 

Referring  to  Chicago,  the  speaker  drew  attention  to  the  fact  that 
last  winter  over  30,000  persons  were  kept  from  starvation  by  the 
hand  of  charity.  With  elevators  bursting  with  food,  warehouses 
groaning  with  clothing,  and  houses  vacant  everywhere,  they  who 
produced  by  their  labor  these  things  were  made  to  feel  the  pangs 
of  hunger  and  the  biting  frosts  of  winter.  Beneath  the  shadow  of 


OBSERVING  THANKSGIVING  DAY. 


59 


palaces  which  they  had  reared  the  workers  of  Chicago,  as  elsewhere, 
were  huddled  together  in  hovels  and  huts  unfit  for  human  habitation. 
The  wealth  produced  by  the  wage-workers  of  Chicago  the  past  year 
was  sufficient  to  furnish  them  with  every  comfort — yea,  even  luxury. 

The  capitalists  and  their  mouthpieces,  the  press,  pulpit,  and  poli¬ 
ticians,  declare  that  the  wage  class  receive  in  wages  all  that  they 
earn.  By  this  they  mean  that  we  earn  only  so  much  as  they  compel 
us  to  accept.  The  statistics  as  given  in  the  capitalistic  press  showing 
the  productive  capacity  of  labor  in  Chicago  the  past  year,  are  the 
answer  to  the  question  why  the  workers  are  poor.  Let  the  wage¬ 
workers  ponder  them  well  and  ascertain  where  the  ten  and  twelve 
hours’  work  for  which  they  receive  no  pay  goes  to. 

The  statistics,  showing  the  profit  on  labor  in  Chicago  the  past 
year,  are  as  follows: 


Number  of  manufacturing  establishments .  2,282 

Capital  invested  . . . $  87,392,709 

Value  of  raw  material . $152,628,378 

Value  of  manufactured  product . $292,246,912 

Number  of  employes .  105,725 

Total  wages  paid . $  48,382,912 

Now  deduct  the  cost  of  raw  material  and  it  shows  that  labor 

earned  . $139,287,465 

Total  wages  paid . $  48,382,912 


$  90,904,553 

Or  over  $857  profit  on  each  laborer.  While  each  wage-worker 
earned  over  $1,314,  they  received  on  an  average  $457  each,  or  less 
than  one-third  of  what  they  produced.  Each  manufacturing  estab¬ 
lishment  averaged  a  profit  of  about  $40,000.  Some  bankrupted,  it 
is  true ;  but  others,  like  Phil  Armour,  made  over  $3,500,000. 

Manufacturers  divide  this  plunder  with  landlords,  usurers,  in¬ 
surance,  the  Government,  lawyers,  and  other  leeches  and  parasites. 

Phil  Armour  reduced  his  10,000  laborers  25  cents  per  day,  which 
on  10,000  amounts  to  $2,500  per  day,  $15,000  per  week,  $45,000  per 
month,  and  $540,000  per  year.  Result,  a  twelve-story  palace  worth 
$1,000,000  in  two  years. 

Potter  Palmer  builds  a  $600,000  palace.  There  are  ten  million- 


6o 


OBSERVING  THANKSGIVING  DAY. 


aire  club-houses  in  this  city  which  are  used  for  conspiracy  against 
the  liberties  of  the  people.  Theye  are  miles  and  miles  of  fashionable 
avenues  lined  from  end  to  end  with  palaces  wherein  the  enslavers 
and  robbers  of  labor  licentiously  and  riotously  carouse  upon  the 
wealth  filched  from  the  workers. 

Shall  we  be  thankful  for  this  infamy,  crime,  and  murder  of  the 
innocents?  But  the  “stars-and-stripes”  overshadows  and  smiles  upon 
and  protects  it  all.  Behold  the  American  army,  with  gleaming  bay¬ 
onets,  in  long  serried  line,  the  American  flag  at  its  head  leading  the 
column,  marching  under  orders  of  the  President  of  the  United  States 
to  protect — what?*  To  protect  the  rights  and  liberties  and  welfare 
of  the  people?  No.  To  protect  the  propertied  class  in  their  consti¬ 
tutional  right  to  buy  cheap  labor — the  Chinese  coolie  slave — and  thus 
reduce  the  American  laborer  to  the  coolie  standard  of  living.  The 
flag  of  America  has  thus  become  the  ensign  of  privilege  and  the 
guardian  of  property,  the  defender  of  monopoly.  Wage-slaves  of 
Chicago,  turn  your  eyes  from  that  ensign  of  property  and  fix  them 
upon  the  emblem  of  liberty,  fraternity,  equality — the  red  flag — that 
flag  which  now  and  ever  has  waved,  and  ever  will  remain  the  ori- 
flamme  of  liberty,  denoting  emancipated  labor,  the  redemption  of 
humanity,  and  the  equality  of  rights  of  all. 

Let  us  be  thankful,  then,  that  there  is  a  large  and  increasing 
number  of  workingmen  and  women  who  have  acquired  a  knowledge 
of  their  rights  and  dare  to  defend  them.  Let  us  be  thankful  for  the 
dawn  which  is  even  now  breaking,  which  is  to  usher  in  the  new  era ; 
thankful  for  the  near  approach  of  that  period  in  human  affairs  when 
man  will  no  longer  govern  or  exploit  his  fellow-man :  the  time  when 
the  earth  and  all  it  contains  will  be  held  for  the  free  use  of  all  na¬ 
ture’s  children. 

Let  us  prepare  for  the  recovery  of  our  stolen  right  to  our  inher¬ 
itance  of  this  fair  earth,  and  let  us  express  the  devout  and  earnest 
hope  that  ere  many  Thanksgiving  days  come  round  the  workers  of 
the  world  may,  by  their  devotion  to  liberty  and  the  best  interests  of 


*This  was  being  done  at  that  time  in  the  Territories. 


OBSERVING  THANKSGIVING  DAY. 


61 


man,  abolish  and  exterminate- the  whole  brood  of  profit-mongers, 
rent-takers,  and  usury-gatherers,  and  on  the  ruins  of  the  old  erect 
the  new  order,  wherein  all  will  associate  and  co-operate  for  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  producing  and  consuming  freely,  without  let  or  hindrance. 


f 


CHAPTER  IV. 

UNDER  THE  RED  FLAG. 

The  Central  Labor  Union  of  Chicago  Celebrates  Labor  Day 
— Presentation  of  the  Distinctively  Labor  Banner  to  the 
Metal  Workers'  Union — Address  of  Albert  R.  Parsons — 
The  Emblem  of  Liberty — The  Hope  of  the  Oppressed — Ex¬ 
ploitation  Not  Confined  to  Any  Particular  Country — 
Governments  Maintained  by  Force — Anarchy  Will  Super¬ 
sede  Force-Propped  Institutions  — “Agitate,  Organize, 
Revolt  !” 

The  Central  Labor  Union  of  New  York  in  1884  advised  the 
unions  and  organizations  of  the  country  to  set  aside  the  first  Monday 
in  September  as  a  general  holiday  for  all  classes  of  laborers;  since 
which  time  it  has  been  very  widely  observed. 

The  address  given  below  was  delivered  on  the  7th  of  September, 
1885  (Labor  Day),  at  a  demonstration  held  by  the  Central  Labor 
Union  of  Chicago,  on  which  occasion  a  beautiful  banner  was  pre¬ 
sented  to  the  Metal-Workers’  Union.  Albert  Parsons  was  invited 
to  make  the  presentation  speech.  His  address  on  this  occasion  was 
eloquent  and  of  some  length,  but  only  a  portion  of  it  has  been  pre¬ 
served.  The  following  is  quoted  from  a  daily  paper  of  the  8th  of 
September : 

“  ‘We  meet  to-day  beneath  the  red  flag — that  flag  which  sym¬ 
bolizes  an  equality  of  rights  and  duties,  the  solidarity  of  all  human 
interests ;  that  flag  which  has  for  more  than  a  century  past  been 
the  emblem  of  “Liberty,  Fraternity,  Equality.”  Since  the  bloody 
struggle  with  oppression  which  began  in  France  in  1788,  and 
through  the  varying  fortunes  which  have  attended  its  followers  in 
their  conflicts  with  the  despots  of  continental  Europe,  England,  and 


62 


UNDER  THE  RED  FLAG.  63 

America,  it  has  been  the  oriflamme  of  liberty,  the  sign  of  labor’s 
emancipation  from  its  slavery.’ 

“Here  the  new  flag  was  unfurled  and  grandly  waved  from  the 
improvised  rostrum  of  salt-barrels.  Then  the  speaker  continued : 

“  ‘Again  and  again  has  this  symbol  been  baptized  in  the  blood 
of  the  people,  struggling  with  their  rulers,  until  its  crimson  folds, 
dripping  with  the  tears  and  blood  of  freedom’s  martyrs,  appeal  in 
mute  but  overwhelming  power  to  the  lovers  of  liberty  everywhere, 
to  pledge  again  undying  devotion  to  liberty,  fraternity,  equality. 
Here,  as  everywhere,  labor  is  degraded  by  poverty  and  held  in  hered¬ 
itary  servitude  to  that  wealth  which  it  creates.  Our  American  rulers 
differ  not  one  whit  from  the  despots  of  all  other  lands.  They  all 
fatten  upon  the  miseries  of  the  people ;  they  all  live  by  despoiling 
the  laborer.  The  boundary  lines,  flags,  customs,  and  languages  of 
the  nations  of  the  earth  may  differ,  but  the  poverty,  misery,  and 
degradation  of  the  useful  class — the  producers  of  the  world’s  wealth 
— proceed  from  one  and  the  same  cause — the  subjection,  the  enslave¬ 
ment  of  the  producers.  Through  force  and  fraud  the  cunning,  cruel, 
and  unprincipled  few  became  possessed  of  what  by  natural  right  is 
the  common  heritage  of  all.  Government,  with  its  constitution  and 
man-made  laws,  and  all  the  machinery  to  sustain  and  enforce  it,  be¬ 
came  a  necessity  for  the  protection  of  the  usurpers.  Anarchy,  the 
natural  law,  was  overthrown  and  this  fair  earth  was  converted  into 
a  slave-pen — all  for  the  frivolities,  pastime,  and  licentiousness  of  the 
privileged  class.” 

“In  a  similar  vein  ‘the  better  classes,’  ingeniously  invented  for 
popular  discussion  by  the  Union  League  Club,  were  attended  to,  and 
then  the  speaker  wound  up  by  saying : 

“  ‘But  the  powerful,  the  privileged,  are  not  in  the  least  disturbed 
by  argument,  protest,  or  petition.  They  have  but  one  answer  to 
all  appeals — force.  By  force  and  fraud  they  gained  their  power ; 
by  force  and  fraud  they  maintain  it.  Morality,  pity,  reason  are  all 
alike  lost  upon  those  who  rob  and  enslave  their  fellow-beings.  They 
answer  argument  with  misrepresentation;  they  practice  charity  but 
deny  justice,  and  answer  demands  for  liberty  with  starvation,  prisons, 
and  steel.  What  shall  be  done  with  those  social  monsters,  these 


6\ 


UNDER  THE  RED  FLAG. 


property  beasts?  We  must  destroy  them  or  be  destroyed.  By  what? 
Anarchy,  self-government,  the  right  to  work  and  live,  the  right  vol¬ 
untarily  to  associate  and  co-operate,  the  equal  right  of  all  to  the  use 
of  all.  The  usurpation  of  man  by  man  must  cease;  to  this  we  are 
pledged.  We  are  revolutionists.  We  fight  for  the  destruction  of 
the  system  of  wage-slavery.  To  the  despised,  disinherited,  and  des¬ 
titute  of  the  earth  Anarchy  offers  love,  peace,  and  plenty.  Statute 
laws,  constitutions,  and  Governments  are  at  war  with  nature  and 
the  inalienable  rights  of  man.  The  claim  of  capital  to  profit,  interest, 
or  rent  is  a  robber  claim,  enforced  by  piratical  methods.  Let  robbers 
and  pirates  meet  the  fate  they  deserve.  Against  them  there  is  but 
one  resource — force.  Agitate,  organize,  revolt!  Proletarians  of  the 
world,  unite !  We  have  nothing  to  lose  but  our  chains — we  have  a 
world  to  win.  Lead  on  the  red  flag  to  liberty  or  death !” 

“After  the  highly  dramatic  peroration  of  Mr.  Parsons  a  speech  in 
German  was  delivered  by  August  Spies,  of  the  Arbeiter-Zeitung, 
and  then  the  Socialists’  male  chorus  sang  ‘The  Red  Banner.’  The 
procession  formed  in  three  divisions  under  Oscar  Neebe  as  Chief 
Marshal,  and  A.  R.  Parsons  and  Gus  Belz  as  aids.  The  line  of  march 
was  by  way  of  Madison,  Clark,  and  Division  streets  to  Ogden’s 
grove,  where  the  day  was  spent  in  the  usual  picnic  recreations  and 
impromptu  remarks  by  the  speakers  of  the  forenoon,  supplemented 
by  Mrs.  Parsons  in  the  afternoon.” 


CHAPTER  V. 


AN  INTERESTING  INTERVIEW. 

The  Hon.  Alexander  H.  Stephens,  Vice-President  of  the 
Southern  Confederacy,  Declares  Himself  a  Communist — 
A.  R.  Parsons  Meets  the  Georgia  Statesman  While  in 
Washington  as  a  Delegate  of  the  Eight-Hour  League — 
The  Relations  of  the  Labor  Problem  to  the  Future  of 
America — Contrasting  the  Condition  of  the  South  Before 
and  After  the  War — Wage-Labor  Cheaper  Than  Slave 
Labor — Half  of  the  Wages  Taken  by  the  Government 
for  Taxes. 

Taken  from  the  “ Chicago  Daily  Telegraph ”  of  January  20,  1880. 

Mr.  Albert  R.  Parsons,  a  delegate  from  the  Eight-Hour  League, 
of  this  city,  to  the  conference  in  regard  to  land  reform  and 
the  labor  movement  held  at  Washington,  D.  C.,  last  week,  returned 
a  day  or  two  since  and  was  this  morning  interviewed  by  a  Telegraph 
reporter  relative  to  an  interview  held  by  that  gentleman  with  the 
Hon.  Alexander  H.  Stephens,  Vice-President  of  the  dead  Confeder¬ 
acy. 

Mr.  Parsons  was  introduced  to  Mr.  Stephens  as  a  “Communist,” 
and  was  not  a  little  surprised  to  hear  that  gentleman  announce  that 
he  himself  was  not  only  a  Communist  but  an  agrarian.  “No  two 
words,”  said  the  ex-President,  “express  so  much,  in  my  opinion,  as 
these  two  words,  for  as  Communism  has  developed  in  France,  Spain, 
and  other  countries  during  the  past  few  years,  and  as  it  relates  to 
the  sovereignty  of  local  Government,  and  the  nature  and  functions 
of  State  rule,  it  develops  a  marvelous  bearing  on  the  future  of 
America.  I  can  conceive  of  no  characters  in  history  more  interest¬ 
ing  than  the  Gracchi  brothers,  of  Rome.  The  problems  of  labor  and 
Cornmunism  will  yet  be  dominant  themes  in  Congress,  and,  although 


65 


66 


AN  INTERESTING  INTERVIEW. 


I  should  like  to  speak  upon  these  subjects  during  the  present  year, 
I  fear  political  trickery  is  occupying  the  time  of  the  wire-pullers-, 
and  they  will  exclude  all  such  discussion  from  Congress  during  the 
Presidential  year. 

In  regard  to  the  condition  of  the  South,  comparing  the  chattel 
slave  and  wage  systems,  the  results  do  not  favor  the  former  so  far 
as  the  employer  is  concerned.  Mr.  Stephens  dealt  in  extension  on  this 
theme,  and  stated  that  the  wage  system  makes  labor  cheaper  and 
more  serviceable  for  the  former  masters  of  the  South.  He  based  his 
decision  on  the  power  and  ability  of  the  worker  to  consume  animal 
food.  In  France  the  average  consumption  of  meat  per  person  is  75 
pounds  annually,  in  Germany  25  pounds,  in  Ireland  10  pounds,  and 
among  the  former  slaves  of  the  South  under  the  new  wage  system  50 
pounds  a  year.  In  ante-War  times  the  master  allowed  his  slave  200 
pounds  of  meat  annually,  and  clothing  and  the  like  is  decreased  in  a 
like  ratio,  making  a  difference  of  300  per  cent,  unfavorable  to  the 
colored  people.  Mr.  Stephens  said  he  understood  that  thousands  of 
workingmen  in  the  North  were  out  of  employment,  and  were  not  able 
to  earn  sufficient  at  any  time  to  provide  what  they  should  for  their 
families.  These  same  views  were  made  by  Jefferson  Davis  about  a 
year  since,  who  claimed  that  the  colored  people  were  more  profit  to 
their  employers  than  before  the  War,  when  the  care  of  the  sick,  dead, 
and  indigent  involved  considerable  expense,  now  avoided  by  their 
masters. 

Mr.  Stephens  is  in  thorough  harmony  with  many'  reforms  now  in 
progress,  and  states  that  the  taxation  of  the  United  States  is  more 
onerous  than  that  of  any  other  country  in  the  world.  “The  tax  on 
the  liquor  and  tobacco,”  he  said,  “consumed  by  an  average  poor 
family  in  the  South  amounts  to  $7.50,  and  as  these  people  make 
about  $10  a  month,  over  $5  of  that  amount  is  consumed  in  paying 
taxes  to  the  Government.” 

Mr.  Parsons  called  the  statesman’s  attention  to  the  fact  that, 

o 

viewed  in  its  philosophical  sense,  the  subject  of  labor  plainly  indicated 
that  the  system  of  buying  and  selling  labor  was  destructive  to  the 
fundamental  principles  of  liberty,  and  this  profit-making  was  what 
kept  the  masses  down  and  what  made  the  operations  of  the  colored 


AN  INTERESTING  INTERVIEW. 


67 


people  in  the  South  look  so  unfavorable.  The  capitalist  and  employer 
made  too  much ;  the  laborer  received  too  little.  It  was  plunder,  not 
hard  times,  which  made  the  poor  man  complain. 

Mr.  Stephens  concluded  by  stating  that  he  sympathized  keenly 
with  the  grievances  of  the  people,  but  hoped  the  riots  of  1877  would 
never  be  repeated  as  a  means  of  enforcing  the  rights  of  workingmen. 
“I  believe  in  the  eight-hour  system  of  labor/’  he  said,  “but  I  fear  the 
present  splurge  of  the  Communists  is  like  an  epidemic,  and  it  may 
fail.  A  man  generally  has  the  small-pox  only  once.” 

“You  are  right,”  replied  Mr.  Parsons,  “and  then  it  either  kills  or 
cures.” 


♦  .  . 


* 

' 


PART  IV. 


CHAPTER  I. 

LETTER  FROM  SALINEVILLE,  OHIO. 

The  Mining  Town  of  Salineville,  O. — The  Truck  Stores — 
The  Inability  of  Legislation  to  Releive  the  Oppressed 
Again  Demonstrated — The  Morality  of  Modern  Commer¬ 
cialism — Wages  of  the  Miners — Hazardous  Work — An 
Old  Man's  Suit — Two  Meetings  Held — The  Salvation 
Army — Unendurable  Conditions  Making  Revolutionists. 

Taken  from  “The  Alarm”  of  January  25,  1886. 

Comrades :  On  Thursday  morning,  with  fraternal  good¬ 

byes  to  friends  in  Cleveland,  I  took  the  Cleveland  &  Pittsburg  train 
for  Salineville,  O.,  a  mining  town  of  about  2,500  inhabitants.  Here 
is  established  a  flourishing  Group  of  earnest  workers  in  the  propa¬ 
ganda  of  the  social  revolution.  Salineville  is  a  strictly  mining  town, 
and  when  for  any  reason  the  mines  close  up  work  all  other  business 
is  practically  suspended.  The  town  lies  in  a  hollow  along  the  banks 
of  a  creek,  for  three  miles  almost  as  straight  as  a  shoe-string,  the 
whole  population  living  upon  or  contiguous  to  one  single  street. 
There  had  been  a  big  thaw,  and  I  had  ample  occasion  to  become  ac¬ 
quainted  with  the  proverbial  mud  and  slush  of  a  rough,  unpaved 
mining  town.  The  homes  of  the  miners  in  this  place  are  a  little  bet¬ 
ter  than  I  have  found  them  elsewhere,  some  of  them  owning  their 
houses,  but  the  great  majority  are  tenants  at  will  of  the  corporation 
which  owns  the  earth  and  all  it  contains  hereabouts.  Of  the  500  or 
600  miners  employed  here  they  are  divided  into  nationalities,  as  near 
as  I  could  ascertain,  about  as  follows :  About  one-half  of  them  are 


69 


70 


A.  R.  parsons'  eastern  trip. 


Irish,  the  remainder  is  made  up  of  Welsh,  Scotch,  English,  and  Ger¬ 
man  in  about  eqi.al  proportions,  with  a  few  Americans  thrown  in. 

The  “truck,”  or  “pluck-me,”  stores  are  in  full,  blast  here.  There 
are  four  of  them,  each  belonging  to  a  different  mining  company. 
Miners  deal  at  these  stores  under  compulsion,  where  open  books  keep 
the  running  account,  which  nearly  always  runs  ahead  of  the  wages 
paid  to  them.  These  “truck-stores”  are  also  the  pay-offices  of  the 
company,  where  on  a  certain  day,  once  a  month,  the  miners  go  to 
settle  the  “store  account”  and  receive  -the  balance,  if  any  is  left,  in 
wages.  This  arrangement  makes  it  quite  handy  for  the  mine-owners, 
who  keep  the  store  account  and  wages  due  all  under  one  head,  and 
manage  by  good  business  qualifications  and  shrewd  management  to 
make  one  generally  offset  the  other.  The  Knights  of  Labor  and 
Miners’  Union,  which  are  strong  in  Ohio,  have,  as  usual,  sought 
relief  from  the  “truck  store  system”  by  legislation.  Last  year,  at 
their  behest  and  by  the  aid  of  labor  politicians,  a  law  was  enacted 
prohibiting  the  collection  of  money  due  on  accounts  at  these  stores 
from  being  taken  out  of  wages.  The  miners  were  happy.  They 
were  told  that  under  this  law  the  truck  store  could  no1  longer  fleece 
them  by  extravagant  prices  and  adulterated  goods.  But  alas !  how 
soon  was  this  “labor  legislation”  brought  to  naught.  The  coal  com¬ 
panies  speedily  demonstrated  their  power  to  control  the  law.  Form¬ 
erly  the  miners  dealt  at  these  stores  as  a  condition  precedent  to  em¬ 
ployment,  but  now,  under  the  “labor  law,”  the  company  presents 
the  miner  who  seeks  employment  from  them  a  “contract”  which 
they  must  sign  before  they  are  employed.  This  “contract”  binds  the 
miner  to  the  company’s  service  in  many  ways,  the  chief  of  which  is 
that  he  waives  all  claim  to  protection  of  the  law  with  regard  to  the 
companies  paying  themselves  out  of  his  wages  for  accounts  run  up 
at  the  truck  stores.  Alas  for  labor  legislation!  Alas  for  “freedom 
of  contract;”  the  “labor  law,”  as  proclaimed  in  the  Pittsburg  mani¬ 
festo  of  the  International,  only  serves  to  deceive,  and  is  when  neces¬ 
sary  simply  evaded  by  those  who  control  the  bread  and  consequently 
the  life  of  the  worker.  And  the  “free  contract”  is  free  in  so-  far  as 
the  worker  must  sign  it  or  starve  !  Those  who  have  “saved”  some 
money  can,  it  is  true,  trade  at  other  stores,  but  such  action  is  re- 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  EASTERN  TRIP. 


71 

garded  as  a  base  ingratitude  by  the  employers,  who  show  their  dis¬ 
pleasure  by  refusing  employment,  and  consequently  destroying  the 
ability  of  the  miner  to  trade  at  all !  But  such  ingratitude  is  rarely 
shown  by  the  men,  since  the  employers  keep  them  so  poor  that  they 
have  no  cash,  nor  credit,  save  at  the  “pluck-me”  stores.  The  miners 
tell  me  that  they  are  swindled  right  and  left  in  their  accounts  by 
overcharges,  short-weights,  and  adulteration.  But  these  are  our 
honorable,  upright,  Christian,  enterprising  business  men,  who  run 
their  concerns  on  “strictly  business  principles.”  Such  is  the  morality 
of  commercialism.  The  men  tell  me  that  many  of  them,  do  not  handle 
a  cent  in  cash  during  a  whole  year !  When  the  great  “battle  for 
bread”  was  raging  in  the  Hocking  valley  last  winter  and  the  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  Miners’  Union  of  Ohio  were  each  assessed  to  pay  a  cer¬ 
tain  sum  per  month  to  aid  the  strikers,  the  miners  of  Salineville  and 
elsewhere  among  them  had  no  money,  and  they  paid  their  assess¬ 
ment  in  coal  at  the  rate  of  one  ton  per  month. 

As  an  illustration  of  the  poverty  of  these  workers  where  labor 
furnishes  the  fuel  for  the  needs  of  the  people,  it  was  related  to  me 
that  a  miner,  father  of  a  family,  when  passing  from  his  daily  toil 
on  the  “coal  bank”  the  store  of  a  merchant  to  whom  he  owed  an 
unpaid  bill  for  groceries,  etc.,  the  business  man  accosted  him  and 
said:  “That  account  is  due  a  long  time,  why  don’t  you  pay  me?” 
The  miner  answered :  “You  know  how  much  I  make  and  you  know 
it  is  not  enough  to  support  my  family  on  the  commonest  necessities 
of  life.  If  you  can  show  me  any  way  I  will  be  glad  to  do  so.”  As 
the  miner  spoke  he  held  his  little  10-year  old  boy  by  the  hand,  and 
the  merchant,  eyeing  the  child  closely,  said :  “Can’t  you  take  your 
son  into  the  mine  with  you?  He  can  earn  something,  and  in  that 
way  you  can  pay  me.”  The  miner  shook  his  head,  and  as  he  walked 
away,  sadly  holding  his  little  boy’s  hand  and  pondering  on  what  the 
“business  man”  had  said,  the  tears  coursed  down  his  rugged  cheek. 
He  afterward  took  the  child  into  the  mine  and  paid  the  merchant’s 
bill !  Such  is  the  morality  practiced  by  commercialism  and  taught 
from  the  paid  pulpit  of  the  church.  Capitalism  demands  its  pound 
of  flesh,  even  though  it  be  taken  from  the  heart  of  innocent  child¬ 
hood. 


/2  A.  R.  PARSONS'  EASTERN  TRIP. 

The  miners  work  eleven  hours  on  an  average,  and  average  two 
tons  per  day,  at  60  cents  per  ton.  They  are  not  allowed  to  work 
more  than  six  months  in  the  year  on  an  average.  This  makes  an 
income  of  60  cents  per  day  the  year  round,  or  not  quite  $200  for  a 
year’s  work,  upon  which  they  must  live  and  support  a  family.  These 
miners  tell  me  that  when  they  dig  two  tons  of  coal,  one  ton  is 
counted  as  worthless  by  the  company,  and  they  pay  them  nothing 
for  it.  The  nut,  pea,  and  slack  coal  averages  one-half  the  out-put; 
the  miner  receives  60  cents  for  the  “lump  coal.”  This  lump  coal 
brings  $3  per  ton  at  wholesale  in  the  market,  for  the  mining  of  which 
the  miner  receives  60  cents,  but  the  nut,  pea,  and  slack,  for  which 
the  miner  receives  nothing,  is  also  sold  by  the  company  to  the  work¬ 
ing  class  of  our  cities,  who  buy  this  nut  coal  by  the  scuttle  at  10 
cents  a  scuttle,  paying  $12  a  ton  for  it,  as  the  writer  knows  from 
personal  experience  last  winter.  In  fact,  the  so-called  unmarket¬ 
able  coal,  for  the  digging  of  which  the  miners  are  not  paid  a  cent, 
is  sold  by  the  company  at  a  sum  which  pays  the  miners’  wages,  Gov¬ 
ernment  taxes,  insurance,  freight,  etc.,  leaving  the  “lump”  or  mark¬ 
etable  coal  a  clear  wholesale  steal  in  the  hands  of  the  labor  exploit¬ 
ers  !  And  yet  the  Pinkerton  thugs,  the  militia,  and  armed  murderers 
are  employed  by  these  labor  robbers  on  any  pretext  to  prevent  the 
miners  from  obtaining  a  10  or  15  per  cent,  increase  on  the  ton.  One 
corporation,  the  Salineville  Coal  Company,  owes  its  miners  two 
months’  wages  for  work  done  over  a  year  ago,  and  when  the  men 
struck  for  the  pay,  over  a  year  ago,  the  company  pleaded  poverty, 
and  agreed  to  pay  it  as  soon  as  they  made  any  profit,  upon  which 
assurance  the  men  returned  to  work  and  have  been  working  ever 
since.  The  company  still  owes  the  two  months’  wages,  and  from  all 
indications  will  owe  it  forever.  The  generosity  of  the  coal  cormor¬ 
ants  is  shown  in  the  fact  that  the  heads  of  families  can  have  free 
what  coal  they  can  use,  but  if  the  sons,  even  though  they  are  grown 
up  men,  work  in  the  mine  and  the  father  does  not,  why,  the  family 
is  compelled  to  buy  its  coal.  • 

The  life  of  these  miners  is  beset  on  every  hand  with  danger. 
Three  persons  on  the  average  are  murdered  each  year  in  the  mines, 
and  many  are  crippled  for  life,  and  still  more  contract  painful  rheu- 


A.  R.  PARSONS"  EASTERN  TRIP. 


73 


matism  from  exposure.  The  mine-owners  are  only  interested  in 
bringing  coal  to  the  surface;  but  if  this  routine  is  changed  by  the 
bringing  of  a  crushed,  mangled,  bleeding,  and  dead  miner  to  the 
surface  occasionally,  it  is  no  loss  or  concern  to  the  company.  These 
so-called  “accidents”  which  destroy  life  are  pure  parsimony  and  in¬ 
difference  of  the  bosses,  who  will  not  provide  the  necessary  props 
to  the  roof,  which  would  easily  insure  safety  to  the  miners.  In  blast¬ 
ing  the  coal,  the  hazardous  work  is  shown  by  frequent  and  perma¬ 
nent  injuries  to  life  and  limb.  The  mine  air  is  foul  and  never  pure, 
and  the  place  where  the  miner  stands,  kneels,  or  lays  to  dig  all  day 
is  often  covered  with  mud  and  water,  the  water  often  covering  the 
“room”  from  six  to  twelve  inches  deep.  To  dip  out  this  water  re¬ 
quires  half  a  day ;  the  company  only  pays  for  coal.  The  following 
night  the  room  fills  with  water  again,  and  the  miner  must  again  lose 
half  a  day  to  dip  it  out.  The  miners  tell  me  that  twice  a  day,  on 
going  to  work  and  returning  through  the  mine  entrance,  they  run 
the  risk  of  being  crushed  to  death  by  the  falling  roof,  which  the 
company  will  not  go  to  the  expense  of  propping  and  thus  making 
safe.  A  miner  who  was  murdered  in  this  way  two>  years  ago  was 
the  only  son  and  support  of  an  aged  father,  who  has.  since  sued  the 
company  for  $10,000  damages.  It  took  a  year  to  get  to  the  trial, 
when  the  jury  disagreed,  and  another  year  must  roll  around  before 
it  is  tried  again,  when  the  jury  will  again  “disagree,”  or,  better  still, 
the  old,  infirm  man  may  be  dead  of  starvation  and  exposure.  This 
old  man  owed  the  truck  store,  at  the  time  of  the  suit,  $50,  and  the 
company’s  agent  tried  to  persuade  the  old  man  to  withdraw  the  suit 
if  they  would  cancel  the  debt.  The  father  indignantly  rejected  the 
offer,  and  in  his  anguish  cried :  “You  miserable  scoundrels,  you 
want  to  pay  for  my  murdered  son  the  price  of  an  old  mule.”  But 
miners  are  cheaper  than  mules,  nevertheless,  as  the  company  knows 
to  its  great  profit. 

As  might  be  expected,  your  correspondent  found  quite  a  dis¬ 
satisfied  lot  of  men  in  Salineville,  and  when  the  mass-meeting  which 
our  comrades  had  arranged  there  took  place,  it  was  to  be  expected 
that  a  large  attendance  would  be  present.  The  meeting  was  an¬ 
nounced  in  Masonic  hall,  for  which  the  proprietor  charged  the  out- 


74 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  EASTERN  TRIP. 


rageous  price  of  $13.  This,  however,  was  the  only  hall  in  town, 
and  as  a  monopolist  he  was  master  of  the  situation,  viz. :  pay  his 
price  or  go  without.  The  Miners’  Brass  Band,  composed  of  fifteen 
musicians,  a  fine-looking  body  of  men,  discoursed  several  pieces  of 
well-executed  music  in  the  calm,  clear  atmosphere  of  New  Year’s 
day  in  front  of  the  hall.  At  the  time  named  quite  a  crowd  had  as¬ 
sembled.  At  the  opening  of  the  meeting  I  announced  for  discus¬ 
sion  the  Socialistic  declaration  that  by  natural  right  and  human 
necessities  the  mine  belonged  to  the  miner,  the  tools  to  the  toilers, 
and  the  product  to  the  producers.  Any  other  arrangement  of  affairs 
left  the  producers  a  dependent,  hireling  class,  at  the  mercy  of  the 
non-producers.  The  poverty  of  the  miners  was  the  same  as  all  other 
workers — enforced  and  artificial.  The  parasites,  the  drones  in  the 
industrial  hive,  absorbed  all  the  honey  and  made  the  industrious 
workers  drudge  and  slave  for  them. 

Their  attention  was  called  to  the  fact  that  strikes,  boycotts,  arbi¬ 
tration,  and  voting  could  not  adjust  the  trouble  between  capitalists 
and  laborers.  What  was  necessary  was  not  to  soften  and  palliate 
their  wage-slavery  (which  would  not  be  done),  but  its  abolition. 
To  abolish  the  capitalist  and  destroy  his  power  to  rob  and  enslave 
would  be  to  place  all  capital  and  means  of  subsistence  into  the  hands 
of  the  people  for  their  free  use.  All  could  then  voluntarily  co-operate 
in  the  production  and  distribution  of  the  wealth,  and  poverty  and 
want  would  be  unknown  and  impossible. 

This  and  much  else  was  said  in  proof  of  the  statement  that  the 
existing  social  system  not  only  made  but  kept  the  producers  poor, 
and  there  was  no  help  for  it  until  that  infamous  system  was  destroyed 
utterly. 

The  first  meeting  was  held  in  the  afternoon  at  2  o’clock,  the  sec¬ 
ond  the  same  evening  at  7 :30  o’clock.  The  greatest  interest  was 
shown  at  both. 

As  seen  from  the  above  facts,  the  bodies  of  these  miners  are  al¬ 
ready  lost  and  damned,  and  yet  for  three  months  this  town  has  been 
afflicted  with  the  marching  and  countermarching  of  the  Salvation 
Army.  The  Salvationists  are  trying  to  save  for  the  next  world  the 
souls  of  these  poor  people,  whose  bodies  have  already  been  ruined  in 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  EASTERN  TRIP. 


75 


this,  and  they  gain  some  adherents,  too.  Religion  in  this  form  conies 
cheap ;  you  can  take  it  on  the  sidewalk  or  elsewhere,  as  necessity  or 
convenience  dictates.  Between  the  actual  hell  and  the  fear  of  a 
future  one  they  keep  the  ignorant  and  superstitious  in  a  great 
ferment.  The  Captain  of  the  company  is  a  young  woman  of  17 
summers,  which  is  quite  an  attractive  feature.  A  Lieutenant,  another 
young  woman,  has  already  become  a  Mary  Magdalene,  but  unlike 
Christ,  their  master,  they  ha/ve  not  only  cast  the  first  but  the  last 
stone  at  her,  and  she  is  now  an  outcast.  Here,  as  elsewhere,  the 
churches  are  the  partners  of  mammon.  The  Catholic  priest  tells  his 
congregation  to  beware  of  the  godless  Socialists  and  Anarchists,  and 
warns  them  against  the  evils  of  social  revolution.  In  his  speech  here 
recently  he  said  to  them  that  when  they  become  hungry  they  must 
go  to  the  authorities  first,  and  if  they  refuse  to  give,  then  take  food, 
and  if  arrested  they  must  not  resist,  but  obey  the  authorities  and  go 
quietly  to  prison.  “All  things  work  together  for  good  to  them  who 
love  God,”  says  he,  quoting  the  scripture. 

Nevertheless,  there  is  a  most  decided  revolutionary  spirit  among 
the  men  generally;  they  all  feel  that  something  must  be  done  and 
quite  a  number  have  the  courage  to  say  so,  and  a  few  are  prepared 
to  act. 

They  all  declare  that  the  existing  system  is  infamous,  but  their 
respect  for  law,  for  authority,  both  on  earth  and  in  heaven,  as  taught 
them  by  the  press,  politician,  and  priest,  restrains  them  from  taking 
decided  action.  The  burden  meanwhile  grows  heavier  and  more 
heavy,  and  it  will  ere  long  become  unendurable,  when,  God  or  no 
God,  law  or  no  law,  they  will  cast  it  off. 


\ 


CHAPTER  II. 


% 


f 


LETTER  FROM  THE  SMOKY  CITY. 

Ten  Days  Among  the  Wage-Slaves  of  Pennsylvania — Large 
Meetings  at  Coal  Center  and  Elizabeth — Magnificent 
Resources  of  the  Country — Poverty  and  Misery  of  the 
People — Strongly  Defined  Class  Distinctions — Inevitable^ 
Conflict  Between  the  Privileged  Classes  and  the  Dis¬ 
inherited — Tramps  and  Starving  Men  in  a  Region  of 
Wealth — Robbery  and  Evictions  by  the  Coal  Czars  of  Con- 

NELLSVILLE - ARMED  SOLDIERS  AND  SHERIFFS  SUPPRESS  THE  POV- 

erty-Stricken  People — Large  Mass-Meetings  in  Pittsburg 
— Mr.  Gessner’s  Address — Strong  Resolutions  Adopted — 
Need  of  Good  Leadership — Socialism  a  Necessity. 

Taken  from  “The  Alarm”  of  February  4,  1886. 

Comrades :  Since  writing  my  last  report  in  the  Alarm  I 
have  spent  ten  days  among  the  wage-slaves  of  Pennsylvania.  One 
mass-meeting  was  held  at  Coal  Center  and  another  at  Elizabeth,  on 
the  Monongahela  river.  Coal  Center  is  located  fifty  miles  above 
Pittsburg,  in  the  Monongahela  valley.  From  Coal  Center  to  Pitts¬ 
burg  is  one  continuous  coal  mine  of  almost  inexhaustible  quantity. 
The  country  is  beautiful  with  its  valleys,  mountains,  and  river,  and 
is  said  by  those  who  claim  to  know  to  be  almost  as  picturesque  as 
Switzerland.  The  soil  is  of  the  richest  character;  the  great  hills 
abound  with  coal,  iron,  stone,  oil,  natural  gas.  The  river  is  navi¬ 
gable,  and  bounded  on  either  side  of  its  bank  by  a  railroad.  The  cli¬ 
mate  is  delightful  and  healthy,  the  water  pure.  With  all  these  nat¬ 
ural  conditions  of  abounding  wealth  which  only  requires  the  magic 
touch  of  labor’s  hand  it  would  be  reasonable  to  expect  that  its  in¬ 
habitants  were  prosperous  and  happy.  But,  alas  for  our  boasted,  so- 


76 


A.  R.  PARSONS*  EASTERN  TRIP, 


77 


called  modern  civilization !  Amid  this  unlimited  natural  wealth  there 
is  the  most  extreme  poverty  and  intense  misery,  and  what  is  true  of 
this  region  I  find  to  be  the  same  deplorable  condition  wherever  I  go. 

In  Allegheny  City,  a  place  of  great  wealth,  and  in  Pittsburg  and 
elsewhere  the  gaunt  faces  of  misery,  hunger,  and  woe  meet  one  on 
every  hand.  Pennsylvania  is  the  richest  State  in  the  American 
Union,  and  Pittsburg  and  the  region  around  about  it  is  its  center. 
The  invested  capital  of  this  State  is  mainly  engaged  in  employing 
labor  at  productive  work.  Here  are  the  mines,  mills,  and  factories 
of  America,  and,  of  course,  the  class  distinctions  of  wage-slaves  and 
capitalistic  masters,  of  proletariat  and  bourgeoisie,  the  most  clearly 
visible  and  well-defined.  Here  the  operations  of  the  modern  com¬ 
mercial  system,  which  produces  for  profit  only,  holds  supreme  sway, 
and  its  effects  upon  the  people  are  visible  on  every  hand,  viz. :  the 
colossal  wealth  of  the  idle  few,  the  agonizing  poverty  of  the  indus¬ 
trious  many.  The  system  of  private  ownership  and  control  of  capi¬ 
tal,  which  makes  of  the  propertyless  a  dependent,  hireling  class,  sub¬ 
jecting  them  to  the  selfish  whims  and  greed  of  the  privileged  few 
who  possess  the  legal  right  to  own  and  control  the  labor  product 
of  the  laborers,  has  full  play  in  the  “common  ( ?)  wealth  of  Pennsyl¬ 
vania.”  Shoeless  children,  who  dare  not  leave  their  miserable  shan¬ 
ties  sometimes  called  “homes,”  to  go  to  school  or  to  work  over  the 
ice  or  through  the  snow,  are  to  be  seen  everywhere.  Thinly  clad, 
emaciated,  care-worn  women,  bowed  down  with  drudgery  and 
anxiety,  meet  you  on  all  sides.  Miserable,  wretched,  poverty-strick¬ 
en  men,  young  in  years,  stalwart  in  frame,  yet  old  in  gait  and 
shrunken  with  misery,  greet  your  eyes  at  every  turn.  Crammed  and 
filled  are  the  work-houses,  prisons,  poor-houses,  police  stations,  char¬ 
ity  societies,  penitentiaries,  and  the  “Potter’s  Field.” 

“Rattle  their  bones  over  the  stones, 

They’re  only  poor  workmen  whom  nobody  owns.” 

Look  on  that  picture,  then  on  this,  viz. :  Palatial  mansions,  every¬ 
thing  that  wealth  can  supply,  licentious  luxury,  profligacy,  idleness, 
and  corruption  among  the  “successful  enterprisers”  who  have  ex¬ 
ploited,  degraded,  and  enslaved  their  fellow-men, 


7» 


A.  R.  PARSONS*  EASTERN  TRIP. 


There  is  a  fierce  conflict,  internal  warfare  on  every  side,  raging 
between  the  privileged  and  disinherited.  Strikes  are  met  with  lock¬ 
outs  ;  bread  riots  are  met  with  police  clubs,  bayonets,  and  gatling 
guns ;  the  “pious  fraud”  plies  his  vocation  and  threatens  the  rebel¬ 
lious  slaves  with  eternal  damnation  and  the  wrath  of  God  when  op¬ 
pression  compels  them  to  disregard  the  “law  and  order”  of  their 
earthly  masters ;  the  poor-houses  and  prisons  are  filled  with  the  un¬ 
fortunates  whose  inability  to  find  employment  makes  them  objects 
of  Governmental  care,  and  dungeons  and  prison  cells  are  crammed 
with  wage-slaves  who  have  “conspired”  against  starvation  wages, 
and  thus  violated  the  “organic  law”  of  capitalistic  system.  Ev¬ 
erything  is  done  by  contract.  The  labor  exploiters  prepare  a  “free 
contract”  for  their  wage-slaves  to  sign  as  a  condition  precedent  to 
employment,  which  they  are  at  perfect  liberty  to  sign  or  starve !  And 
this  “freedom  of  contract”  is  held  inviolate  by  the  courts  and  Judges 
of  capitalism. 

The  report  of  the  superintendent  of  the  Bethel  home  in  Pittsburg, 
a  semi-charitable  institution  where  a  bed  or  a  meal  can  be  had  for 
5  cents,  made  his  annual  report  a  few  days  ago  to  the  public  that 
25,276  tramps  were  provided  for  in  this  institution  the  past  year. 
And  only  one  institution  heard  from ! 

Ten  thousand  miners  and  coke-makers  are  on  a  strike  for  a  10 
per  cent,  advance  of  their  starvation  wages  in  the  Connellsville  re¬ 
gion,  contiguous  to  this  city,  and  the  mine  and  coke  czars  have  issued 
their  ukases,  ordering  them  to  vacate  their  tenements,  and  the  police 
and  militia  are  under  arms,  awaiting  the  word  of  command  from  the 
Government  to  evict  the  rebels,  dispossess  them1  of  their  miserable 
shanties  at  the  point  of  a  bayonet,  and  cast  the  helpless  women  and 
innocent  children  out  into  the  snow.  Shades  of  Irish  landlordism ! 
your  blighting  shadow  has  fallen  upon  America  as  well.  First 
robbed  and  then  evicted  because  they  are  dissatisfied  with  the  rob¬ 
bers.  And  it  is  said  that  Americans  are  to  be  employed  in  the  place 
of  these  ungrateful  “foreigners.”  If  the  foreigner  is  no  longer  satis¬ 
fied  with  the  blessings  of  this  “free  country,”  why,  the  “American 
sovereign  is  to  be  employed  in  his  place,”  say  the  capitalists.  But 
will  the  experiment  prove  a  success  ?  May  not  American  sovereigns 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  EASTERN  TRIP. 


79 


and  freemen  also  discover  that  patriotism  is  a  very  poor  substitute 
for  bread?  We  shall  see. 

The  men  at  the  Edgar  Thomson  steel  works  at  Braddock,  a 
Pittsburg  suburb,  had  to  strike  against  twelve  hours’  exhausting  la¬ 
bor.  What  then?  Over  ioo  men,  armed  with  14-repeating  Win¬ 
chester  rifles,  and  about  forty  deputy  Sheriffs,  armed  to  the  teeth, 
were  employed  by  the  company  to  preserve  ‘daw  and  order.”  These, 
with  the  aid  of  the  Very  Rev.  Father  Hickey,  of  that  place,  induced 
the  “ungrateful”  wage-slaves  to  return  to  their  slavery.  Ungrate¬ 
ful,  I  say,  because  do  not  capitalists  claim  that  they  furnish  the 
working  class  with  bread,  and  that  if  it  were  not  for  them  and  their 
business  enterprises  the  workers  would  starve?  “The  ungrateful 
wretches  must  be  kept  orderly  and  quiet,”  say  the  bosses. 

The  flood-gates  of  poverty  have  been  turned  loose.  Hard  times ; 
no  work;  hard  work  and  poor  pay,  describes  the  situation,  and  to 
maintain  their  legal  right  to  control  the  natural  rights  of  others  the 
property-holding  class  are  strengthening  the  police,  increasing  the 
army,  recruiting  the  militia,  building  new  jails,  work-houses,  poor- 
houses,  and  enlarging  the  penitentiaries.  Entrenched  behind  “or¬ 
ganic  law,”  church  and  State,  sustained  by  bayonets,  maintain  the 
supremacy  of  our  capitalistic  “lav/  and  order”  regime. 

Of  course,  the  wage-slaves,  the  proletarians,  are  not  indifferent 
to  the  conditions  that  surround  them.  They  have  massed  their  forces 
in  labor  organizations,  principally  the  Knights  of  Labor  and  trades 
unions.  But  these  labor  organizations  have  built  their  house  upon  a 
foundation  of  sand,  which  the  wind,  rain,  and  storm  of  poverty  now 
descending  upon  it  will  wash  away.  In  fact,  the  foundation  seems 
to  be  gone  already,  and  the  impending  wreck  of  the  whole  structure 
is  at  hand.  They  do  not  and  cannot  regulate  the  work-hours ;  they 
do  not  and  cannot  keep  up  wages  or  provide  employment  to  the  en¬ 
forced  idle.  Any  labor  organization  which  cannot  do  this  for  its 
members  is  of  no  value  to  them  whatever.  These  organizations  are 
at  cross-purposes  with  themselves.  They  fight  the  effects  of  a  sys¬ 
tem,  but  defend  and  protect  the  system  itself.  Result :  failure. 

Socialism  is  soon  to  become  the  trustee  of  these  bankrupted  cap¬ 
italistic  labor  organizations,  which  are  now  being  weighed  in  the 


8o 


A.  R.  PARSONS"  EASTERN  TRIP. 


balance  and  found  wanting.  Out  of  their  ashes,  Phoenix-like,  will 
arise  the  new  social  regime.  On  their  ruins  Socialism  will  erect 
the  mansions  of  “Liberty,  Fraternity,  Equality,”  which  shall  endure 
forever,  for  Socialism  gives  homes  to  the  homeless,  land  to  the  land¬ 
less,  liberty  to  the  slave,  wealth,  happiness,  and  prosperity  to  all ! 
Necessity,  the  mother  of  invention,  will  compel  the  wage-slaves  of 
all  nations  to  turn  to  Socialism  as  their  only  savior. 

At  Coal  Center,  on  the  Monongahela  river,  we  held  successful 
and  important  mass-meetings  of  citizens  and  miners.  Before  my 
arrival  I  was  threatened  with  being  rotten-egged  and  mobbed,  so 
thoroughly  and  skillfully  had  the  capitalistic  politicians  and  priests 
worked  up  a  sentiment  of  hatred  toward  the  detested  Anarchists. 
But  it  proved  a  boomerang  to  recoil  upoh  themselves,  for  after  the 
people  heard  me  present  the  claims  of  Socialism  they  showed  me 
every  possible  courtesy,  taking  me  to  the  best  tavern  and  paying  for 
my  board  bill,  and  assuring  me  that  they  intended  to  send  for  me 
to  return  among  them  soon,  when  they  would  get  the  whole  country 
around  there  to  turn  out  and  hear  Socialism. 

In  Monongahela  City  no  hall  could  be  had  for  love  or  money, 
and  hence  no  meeting,  as  the  weather  was  too  cold  for  an  open-air 
address. 

At  Mansfield,  Pa.,  myself  and  a  few  Pittsburg  comrades  held  a 
very  well-attended  mass-meeting  among  the  citizens  of  that  suburb. 
After  my  address  an  English  miner  rose  and  said  that  he  was  a 
God-fearing  man  and  a  Christian;  that  Socialism  was  Christianity. 
He  had  a  family  of  six  children,  and  his  wages  for  the  past  two 
weeks’  work  was  $4!  I  interrupted  him  to  inquire  if  he  had  not 
made  a  mistake,  when  several  other  miners  present  corroborated 
what  he  said,  and  he  stated  that  some  of  them  got  even  less  than  that 
sum.  The  English  miner  continued,  and  said  that  they  were  robbed 
unmercifully  by  false  weight  of  coal  and  at  the  infamous  truck 
stores.  Said  he :  “I  would  rather  die  on  the  battle-field  than  to  com 
tinue  to  live  as  I  am.”  He  said  he  would  join  the  International  but 
it  was  opposed  to  God.  Man  suffered  because  of  sin.  God  com¬ 
manded  us  to  work  six  days,  but  the  bosses  made  us  work  seven  in 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  EASTERN  TRIP. 


8l 


the  week.  All  we  had  to  do  was  to  obey  God  and  “love  thy  neighbor 
as  thyself.” 

This  miner  was  told  in  reply  that  the  command  to  work  six  days 
was  absurd  and  impossible,  because  on  certain  portions  of  the  earth 
the  days  were  six  months  long.  That  to  obey  God  was  certain  slav¬ 
ery,  for  he  had  not  said:  “Servants,  obey  your  masters  and  be  obe¬ 
dient  to  those  placed  in  authority  over  you”  ?  And  as  for  loving  one's 
neighbor  as  one’s  self,  how  could  there  be  peace  on  earth  and  good 
will  to  those  who  were  engaged  in  robbing  and  killing  us?  The 
English  Government  held  its  sway  over  Ireland  because  the  Catholic 
church  commanded  obedience  to  the  scriptures.  The  Irishman  has 
the  choice  of  obeying  God  and  slavery,  or  disobedience  and  liberty. 
Which?  To  abandon  the  world  to  the  robbers  and  seek  a  paradise 
beyond  this  life,  among  the  unknown  and  unknowable,  was  to  let 
go  the  bird  in  the  hand  and  chase  the  one  in  the  bush.  No  doubt 
ministers  of  the  gospel  would  be  opposed  to  this  earthly  paradise, 
which  an  observance  of  nature’s  law  would  give  to  all,  because  it 
would  abolish  sin  and  his  occupation  as  a  soul-saver  would  be  gone. 

The  meeting  was  well  received,  but  here,  as  elsewhere,  the  men 
are  too  poor,  having  been  on  long  strikes  and  out  of  work  and 
money,  to  subscribe  for  the  Alarm. 

Last  Saturday  evening  in  the  Jane  Street  Turner  Hall,  on  the 
South  Side  of  Pittsburg,  a  large  mass-meeting  greeted  us  in  response 
to  the  following  announcement  made  in  hand-bills : 

Workingmen’s  mass-meeting  at  Turner  Hall,  Jane  street,  S.  S.,  to-night. 
The  workingmen  and  citizens  of  the  South  Side  will  hold  an  indignation 
meeting  on  Saturday  evening,  January  30,  at  7 130  o’clock,  to  denounce  the 
use  of  police  and  military  to  overawe  strikers,  and  also  to  take  action  in 
regard  to  the  introduction  of  labor-saving  machinery  in  our  iron,  steel  and 
glass  industries.  Every  workingman  and  woman  should  be  present.  Free 
discussion.  Everybody  invited.  The  Committee. 

The  hall  was  filled,  and,  on  motion,  F.  M.  Gessner,  editor  of 
the  American  Glass-Worker,  a  weekly  trade  journal  published  in 
Pittsburg,  was  made  Chairman.  He  said,  substantially: 

“Ladies  and  Gentlemen  :  No  one  seems  disposed  to  introduce 
the  gentlemen  who  speaks  to  us  to-night,  but  my  courtesy  to  strang- 


82 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  EASTERN  TRIP. 


ers  bids  me  do  it.  The  workingmen  of  Pittsburg  should  be  here 
in  thousands,  but  possibly"  because  the  victims  of  oppression  in  the 
coke  regions  now  being  driven  into  slavery  at  the  bayonet  point  are 
Hungarians,  there  is  prejudice  against  them.  Well,  be  it  so.  So 
much  the  worse  for  us  and  our  organizations  that  the  cause  of  these 
people  is  ignored  by  us,  and  it  is  left  for  the  hated  and  despised 
Anarchists  and  Socialists  to  step  boldly  to  the  front  in  their  behalf. 
The  unwelcome  truth  calls  for  heroes.  The  poor  Hun  is  being 
crushed  and  only  the  hated  Anarchist  comes  to  his  rescue.  Are  we 
doing  our  duty?  Let  the  hated  Anarchist  roll  his  drum  to-day,  but 
in  the  long  roll  I  believe  our  organization  will  stand  in  line  and 
every  man  answer  ‘Aye.’  I  am  not  here  as  an  Anarchist,  for  I  do  not 
clearly  yet  understand  their  position.  But  the  time  has  come  for  the 
utterance  and  acceptance  of  the  truth,  however  unwelcome  it  may  be 
to  some.  I  ask  your  courteous  attention  to  what  Mr.  Parsons,  of 
Chicago,  has  to  say.” 

I  discoursed  to  the  audience  for  about  two  hours,  and  was  cheered 
throughout  to  the  echo,  and  at  the  conclusion  of  my  speech  the  fol¬ 
lowing  resolutions  were  adopted  unanimously  by  the  large  audience 
present,  which  was  composed  mainly  of  Americans  : 

Resolved,  By  this  mass-meeting  of  workingmen  of  Pittsburg,  that  the 
employment  of  police  and  militia  to  suppress  strikes  and  compel  working 
people  to  submit  to  starvation  wages  paid  by  monopolists  and  capitalists,  as 
witnessed  in  the  recent  struggle  of  the  miners  on  the  Mpnongahela  river,  the 
rolling-mill  men  at  Braddock,  and  the  coke-workers  of  the  Connellsville 
region  and  elsewhere,  demonstrates  that  the  employers  of  labor  rely  upon 
force  to  compel  obedience  to  their  dictation ;  it  therefore  becomes  the  bounden 
duty  of  all  workingmen  who  value  their  life,  liberty  and  happiness  to  arm 
and  prepare  themselves  to  successfully  resist  the  oppressions  of  their  capi¬ 
talistic  masters. 

Resolved,  That  the  monopolistic  or  private  control  of  recent  inventions  in 
labor-saving  machinery,  together  with  the  use  of  natural  gas  in  the  manufac¬ 
ture  of  iron,  steel  and  glassware,  has  destroyed  the  means  of  subsistence  of 
tens  of  thousands  of  wage-workers  by  rendering  their  labor  superfluous ; 
therefore  it  is  our  bounden  duty,  in  order  to  live  and  enjoy  liberty,  to  take 
the  means  of  human  subsistence  out  of  the  control  and  ownership  of  private 
individuals  and  place  them  where  they  by  natural  right  belong,  viz. :  into 
the  hands  of  society  for  the  free  use  of  all,  thus  destroying  forever  the 


I 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  EASTERN  TRIP.  83 

monopolistic  system  of  private  capital  in  the  means  of  life,  which  breeds  the 
curse  of  poverty,  ignorance,  intemperance,  disease,  crime  and  vice. 

Resolved,  That  it  is  the  conviction  of  this  mass-meeting  that  the  time  has 
arrived  when  the  workingmen  of  America  must  arise  and  proclaim,  and  main¬ 
tain  by  any  and  all  means,  their  inalienable  right  to  life,  liberty  and  the  pur¬ 
suit  of  happiness. 

I  cannot  close  this  brief  report  without  calling  attention  to  Penn¬ 
sylvania,  and  Pittsburg,  its  industrial  center,  as  the  natural  cradle 
of  the  social  revolution.  Here,  as  nowhere  else  in  America,  the 
growth  and  development  of  the  capitalistic  system  of  mass-produc¬ 
tion  has  prepared  the  way  by  precept  and  example  for  the  transi¬ 
tion  from  the  old  to  the  new  civilization.  All  the  conditions  exist 
for  the  rapid  and  stalwart  growth  of  the  revolutionary  proletariat. 
There  is  but  one  thing  lacking,  viz :  leaders.  The  trades  unions  and 
Knights  of  Labor  have  organized  the  wage-workers  for  ameliora¬ 
tion,  which  can  never  come.  The  leaders  of  these  bodies  are  still 
chasing  the  ignis  fatuus  of  politics,  and  the  further  they  go  the  deeper 
they  sink  into  the  quagmire  of  the  political  swamp,  until  the  cry  al¬ 
ready  comes  out  of  the  gloom:  “Help,  help!”  It  is  my  deliberate 
judgment  that  one-half  the  talent,  energy,  and  means  expended  in 
Pittsburg  that  has  been  in  Chicago  would  give  the  revolutionary 
movement  ten  members  where  it  now  has  one.  But  unfortunately 
the  Socialistic  propaganda  here  has  neither  an  American,  German, 
or  other  organizer  and  agitator ;  no  press,  and  consequently  but  little 
vitality.  The  harvest  is  great,  but  the  harvesters  are  few.  There 
is  great  probability  of  another  trades  union  riot  here  like  that  of 
1877.  These  are  the  inevitable  social  eruptions  which  make  So¬ 
cialism  a  necessity. 

I  leave  here  to-day  for  Canton,  O.,  thence  to  Massillon,  Mans¬ 
field,  Columbus,  Hocking  Valley,  Springfield,  O.,  and  back  to  Chi¬ 
cago.  Salut. 


f .  ' 

CHAPTER  III. 

IN  THE  OHIO  COAL,  REGIONS. 

Large  Meetings  in  Canton — Wealth  of  the  Country  and  Pov¬ 
erty  of  the  Masses  Compared — Exhaustive  and  Responsi¬ 
ble  Labor  Paid  12J  Cents  Per  Hour — Children  Hunting 
for  Nuggets  of  Coal — Meeting  in  Massillon — One-Half 
the  Working  Population  in  Compulsory  Idleness — One- 
Third  of  the  Whole  Living  on  Charity — Uselessness  of 
the  Ballot  in  the  Hands  of  Wage-Slaves — Interesting 
Meeting  at  Navarre — Deplorable  Condition  of  the  Work¬ 
ers — From  Navarre  to  Mansfield — Three  Successful 
Meetings  in  Columbus. 

Taken  from  “The  Alarm”  of  February  20,  1886. 

* 

Comrades :  Since  my  last  report  in  the  Alarm  I  have  ad¬ 
dressed  several  large  mass-meetings  of  working  people  in  the  State 
of  Ohio.  Two  mass-meetings  were  held  in  Canton  on  Friday  and 
Saturday,  February  5  and  6. 

Canton  is  a  railroad  center  and  manufacturing  town  of  about 
20,000  inhabitants,  in  Stark  county,  which  rates  third  in  the  list  of  the 
wealthiest  counties  in  the  State  of  Ohio.  Nevertheless,  right  here  in 
the  midse  of  this  superabundance  of  wealth,  strong  men,  their  wives 
and  children,  are  homeless,  starving,  and  freezing.  Bear  in  mind, 
Canton  is  located  in  the  third  wealthiest  county  of  this  State ;  its  soil 
is  unsurpassed ;  its  coal,  stone,  water,  natural  gas  exists  in  unlimited 
quantities  and  unsurpassed  qualities ;  the  climate  the  most 
healthy — yet,  in  the  presence  of  this  natural  wealth,  we  find  in 
this  little  city  200  families  of  able-bodied  men  to  whom,  being  com¬ 
pelled  to  be  idle,  the  authorities  have  to  give  charity  to  prevent  them 
from  begging,  stealing,  or  starving!  Five  hundred  other  families 


84 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  EASTERN  TRIP. 


85 


of  strong,  healthy  men  are  kept  in  enforced  idleness  and  receive  aid 
in  one  form  or  another  from  churches,  clubs,  friends,  neighbors,  etc. 

Allowing  five  persons  to  a  family,  we  find  that  Canton,  with  its 
20,000  inhabitants,  has  3,500  human  beings  who  have  been  made 
mendicants  and  paupers  and  are  being  driven  into  vagabondage  and 
crime,  prostitution  and  suicide  by  means  of  our  industrial  system. 
Let  me  give  one  or  two  detailed  facts  with  which  the  writer  is  per¬ 
sonally  acquainted.  At  the  iron  and  steel  works  in  Canton  the  man 
who  fires  six  boilers  and  regulates  the  steam  in  them  tells  me  that  he 
is  kept  spinning  like  a  top  for  ten  to  twelve  hours  each  day,  doing 
this  work  in  person,  and  that  the  least  oversight  on  his  part  would 
cause  an  explosion  of  the  boilers  that  would  kill  at  least  forty  or  fifty 
of  the  200  men  employed  in  the  mill.  For  the  performance  of  this 
exhaustive  labor  and  grave  responsibility  he  receives  the  sum  of  12J 
cents  per  hour ! 

In  the  midst  of  the  terrible  blizzards  and  snows  I  saw  little  4  and 
5-year-old  girls,  clad  in  thin  and  tattered  garments,  scraping  the  snow 
with  their  fingers  among  the  railroad  tracks  where  engines  are  con¬ 
stantly  switching  to  and  fro,  hunting  for  nuggets  of  coal  which  may 
have  dropped  from  passing  trains !  While  here  I  read  in  the  capitalis¬ 
tic  press  of  the  town  that  an  unemployed  workman,  driven  to  despera¬ 
tion,  dashed  a  stone  through  a  plate-glass  window  in  a  store  on  a  prin¬ 
cipal  business  street,  and,  waiting  till  an  officer  of  the  law  arrested 
him,  he  gave  as  a  reason  that  he  was  out  of  work,  money,  and  friends, 
and  adopted  this  plan  to  keep  from  freezing  and  starving  to  death ! 
But  enough.  I  might  add  much  more,  but  space  forbids. 

Two  very  large  mass-meetings  were  held  here.  The  first  one  was 
addressed  by  myself ;  the  second  by  Comrades  Louis  Kirchner,  of 
Canton,  and  Christ.  Saam,  of  Cleveland,  in  German,  and  myself  in 
English.  The  utterances  of  the  speakers  were  loudly  applauded. 
Several  new  members  of  the  American  and  German  Groups  were  ob¬ 
tained,  besides  many  subscribers  to  the  Alarm,  Vorbote ,  Freiheit, 
and  Parole. 

From  Canton  I  went  to  Massillon,  a  manufacturing  and  mining 
town  of  about  12,000  population.  Here  I  found  one-half  of  the 
working  people  in  compulsory  idleness,  and  one-third  of  the  whole 


86 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  EASTERN  TRIP. 


number  of  medicants  living/on  charity,  credit,  etc.  A  large  meeF 
ing  greeted  me  at  this  place.  For  over  two  hours  the  most  undivided 
attention  was  given  to  the  presentation  of  the  causes  which  make 
paupers  of  those  whose  industry  creates  all  wealth. 

Owing  to  the  long-continued  enforced  idleness  the  “strike”  trou¬ 
ble  has  been  solved,  viz. :  the  workers  no  longer  have  a  chance  to 
“strike.” 

Here  is  located  the  celebrated  Russell  &  Co.  harvester  and 
reaper  factory  and  machine  foundry,  employing  several  hundred 
men.  Conspicuous  on  one  of  the  folding  doors  at  the  entrance  of 
this  capitalistic  pen  of  wage-slaves  is  posted  a  large  bill,  printed  in 
very  large  letters,  to-wit : 

Vote  for  Garfield  and  Arthur,  and  our  protective  tariff  and  good  wages. 

Hancock  and  English  are  pledged  to  support  a  low-revenue  tariff,  which 
means  little  work  and  low  wages,  and  for  the  benefit  of  the  cotton  aristocrats 
of  the  Solid  South  and  British  manufacturers. 

This  electioneering  bill  is  eight  years  old.  But  it  tells  its  own 
story.  The  1,000  American  sovereigns,  freemen,  and  voters  at 
work  in  this  capitalistic  slave-pen  “took  the  hint”  and  acted  accord¬ 
ingly.  Never  was  there  better  practical  demonstration  of  the  truth 
that  patriotism  is  the  greatest  of  all  humbugs,  a  sentiment  believed 
in  only  by  fools  and  nurtured  only  by  knaves.  This  factory  is  “the 
pride”  of  this  little  capitalistic  town ;  it  does  a  large  business  in 
steam  engines  and  other  machinery.  This  week  two  lately  invented 
molding  machines  have  been  introduced  into  the  foundry,  each  of 
which  does  the  work  of  twenty  molders,  rendering  their  labor 
superfluous  and  reducing  their  wages  to  zero !  Alas  for  the  Am¬ 
erican  sovereign,  freeman,  and  voter,  about  whom  our  trades  union 
and  other  conservative  labor  organizations  prate  so  much !  Right 
in  this  establishment  I  found  “American  freemen”  who>  said  they 
were  afraid  to  attend  a  public  meeting  of  working  men  for  fear  of 
discharge.  Freemen  indeed!  Let  me  say  that  my  readers  must 
not  imagine  that  Russell  &  Co.'s  is  the  only  “slave-pen.”  No,  no. 
All  capitalistic  institutions  are  precisely  alike  in  their  operations. 
They  all  exploit  and  degrade  the  wealth-producers. 


A.  R.  PARSONS"'  EASTERN  TRIP. 


87 


At  Navarre,  a  mining  town  of  3,000  people,  the  “skating  rink” 
had  been  secured  for  the  “Anarchist”  speaker  to  address  the  people 
in.  This  town  is  located  on  the  Tuscarawa  river,  in  a  beautiful 
valley,  through  which  passes  a  railroad.  The  soil  of  the  surround¬ 
ing  country  is  of  unsurpassed  fertility ;  the  hills  abound  in  coal,  iron, 
stone,  and  gas.  But  to  what  a  sad  plight  has  the  capitalistic  system 
of  wage-slavery  brought  the  American  laborer !  A  miner  tells  me  that 
the  500  or  600  miners  living  here  were  permitted  to  work  about  one- 
third  time  the  past  year.  The  miner  said  his  family  consisted  of  a 
wife  and  three  children.  His  wages  the  past  year  amounted  to 
$89.76.  Rent  was  $5  per  month;  powder  for  120  tons  of  coal  which 
he  dug  was  $15.75;  three  gallons  of  oil  was  $3;  sharpening  tools 
was  50  cents ;  total  expense  for  rent,  powder,  oil,  and  tools,  $79.25 ; 
balance  left  for  food  and  clothes,  $10.51  !  This  allows  less  than 
one-fourth  of  a  cent  per  day  for  food  and  clothes.  “Incredible !” 
you  say.  Talk  of  the  Chinese,  the  pauper  labor  of  Europe,  but  these 
American  sovereigns  can  discount  them.  “How  did  he  live?”  you 
ask.  Well,  in  this  way.  The  country  round  about  is  the  richest 
farming  land  in  the  world.  The  rich  farmers  who  own  it  find  in 
these  poverty-stricken  miners  an  unfailing  supply  of  cheap  labor, 
paying  for  odd  jobs  and  a  few  days’  work  in  the  harvest  season  the 
sum  of  50  cents  per  day !  Sometimes  they  only  give  what  a  hungry 
man  can  eat  in  return  for  a  day’s  hard  work.  A  miner  told  me 
that  he  had  to  buy  on  credit  in  the  year  1884  $5  worth  of  potatoes 
from  a  rich  farmer.  Last  year  (1885)  he  had  no  money  to  pay 
the  debt,  and  told  the  farmer  he  would  work  it  out.  He  worked  four 
days,  over  twelve  hours  per  day,  and  finished  the  job.  He  asked 
the  farmer  to  let  him  have  a  few  bushels  of  potatoes  again  on  credit, 
as  he  had  no  money,  when  he  was  informed  that  not  until  he  paid 
what  was  owing  last  year  could  he  get  any  more.  The  miner 
replied  that  he  thought  his  work  had  paid  the  debt.  The  farmer 
said :  “No,  sir ;  you  owe  me  $2.80  yet,”  and  the  miner  could  get  no 
more  potatoes. 

The  wage-slaves  of  America  have  to  pay  such  high  prices  for 
coal  that  many  of  them  are  forced  to  stint  themselves  in  the  use  of 
it,  while  the  miner  is  freezing  and  starving  also.  This  is  the  legis- 


88 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  EASTERN  TRIP. 


lative  district  from  whichcjohn  McB.,  labor  politician,  member 
of  the  Ohio  Legislature,  and  President  of  the  Ohio  State  Miners’ 
Association,  hails.  As  well  might  the  herd  of  sheep  appeal  to  the 
wolves  for  protection,  as  for  the  despoiled  workers  look  to  the 
statute  books  for  redress. 

I  found  hearty  greeting  in  Navarre.  The  “rink”  was  crowded, 
and  the  brass  band,  consisting  of  fourteen  instruments  performed 
by  miners,  regaled  the  people  with  some  choice  selections  of  music. 
The  meeting  was  attended  by  the  priest,  banker,  and  lawyer,  and 
none  could  or  would  deny  the  truths  of  Socialism.  A  large  Ameri¬ 
can  Group  was  formed  and  many  subscribers  obtained  for  the 
Alarm. 

From  Navarre  I  went  to  Mansfield,  the  home  of  John  Sherman, 
Ohio’s  member  of  the  American  House  of  Lords,  sometimes  called 
the  Senate.  Ohio’s  John  has,  by  strict  economy,  industry,  and 
sobriety  during  his  term  of  office  the  past  twenty  years,  on  a  salary 
of  $5,000  per  annum,  amassed  a  handsome  little  sum  for  a  “rainy 
day”  during  his  old  age,  which  amounts  to  several  million  dollars. 
Thrifty,  industrious,  sober  John,  you  have  reaped  the  reward  of  the 
good,  the  virtuous,  and  the  true !  Successful  statesman,  you  have 
amassed  millions  out  of  the  stolen  product  of  the  American  wage- 
slave,  while  at  the  same  time  making  your  victim  believe  that  you 
were  his  benefactor.  But  Democrats  and  Republicans  vie  with  each 
other  in  playing  the  role  of  statesman ;  that  is,  the  manufacture  of 
the  coward’s  weapon,  the  tool  of  the  thief — statute  law !  In  spite 
of  the  air  of  American  “patriotism,”  now  descended  to  jingoism, 
which  pervades  the  atmosphere  of  Mansfield,  the  streets  were  lined 
with  American  sovereigns  in  compulsory,  as  elsewhere,  idleness,  who 
have  not  where  to  lay  their  weary  heads. 

In  Columbus,  the  Capital  of  Ohio,  we  have  held  three  very 
successful  mass-meetings  in  the  city  hall,  a  large  and  costly  struc¬ 
ture. 

The  first  mass-meeting  was  held  Friday  evening,  February  12, 
one  on  Saturday  evening,  the  third  held  on  Sunday  afternoon 
in  the  city  hall  at  2:30  o’clock.  The  audiences  were  quite  large 
and  intelligent.  They  expressed  hearty  approbation  of  what  they 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  EASTERN  TRIP.  89 

heard,  and  a  large,  intelligent,  and  resolute  American  Group  of  the 
International  was  organized. 

Columbus  is  the  place  where  Ohio’s  law  factory  is  located,  and 
in  which  the  politicians  of  the  State  are  hunting  for  jobs.  Here  are 
to  be  found  many  institutions,  the  offspring  of  statute  law,  the 
most  noteworthy  of  which  is  the  State’s  prison,  or  penitentiary. 
The  Legislature,  or  law-factory,  produces  and  renders  penitentiaries 
necessary,  for  there  must  be  some  place  to  provide  for  those  out¬ 
casts  the  statute  law  manufactures. 

It  is  estimated  by  those  who  ought  to  know  that  fully  one-half 
of  the  wage-workers  of  this  city  are  out  of  employment.  There  was 
never  before  such  destitution  among  the  people.  Able-bodied  men 
seek  in  vain  for  an  opportunity  to  work  and  provide  their  families 
with  the  necessaries  of  life.  On  every  hand  there  is  unoccupied 
land,  empty  houses,  and  idle  machinery,  while  on  every  side  there 
is  the  landless,  homeless,  starving  multitude.  What  but  statute 
law  has  disinherited  these  people?  Does  not  the  State  Trades  As¬ 
sembly  of  Ohio  deserve  the  title  of  capitalistic  labor  organization 
when  at  its  recent  convention,  held  in  this  city,  it  refused  to  take 
eight  hours,  but  instead  referred  the  matter  to  the  legislature  and 
petitioned  the  labor  robbers  to  give  it  to  them,  “if  they  please”? 

Meanwhile  the  capitalistic  system  extorts  its  pound  of  flesh 
from  the  quivering  heart  of  the  disinherited.  The  wealth  of  the 
wealthy  grows  constantly ;  the  poverty  of  the  poor  increases  all  the 
while. 

The  statistics  of  Ohio,  taken  from  the  United  States  census  for 
1880,  show  that  in  manufactures  the  invested  capital  was  $47,000,- 
000  larger  in  1880  than  in  1870,  while  the  number  of  manufacturing 
establishments  was  2,070  less  in  1880  than  in  the  year  1870.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  number  of  wage-workers  employed  in  manufac¬ 
ture  in  Ohio  was  46,407  larger  than  in  1870.  Wages  were  $20  less 
on  the  average  in  1880  than  in  1870. 

Thus  we  see  the  workings  of  the  monopolistic  system  of  interest, 
profit,  and  rent  in  the  fact  that  under  the  workings  of  the  economic 
law  of  capitalism  in  the  State  of  Ohio  in  ten  years  the  number  of 
manufactories  diminished  10  per  cent.,  invested  capital  increased 


90 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  EASTERN  TRIP. 


25  per  cent.,  and  the  number  of  wage-workers  employed  was  in- 
creased  25  per  cent.,  thus  reducing  the  number  of  the  rich  but 
increasing  the  number  of  the  poor;  and  while  wages  decreased 
profits  increased,  thus  increasing  the  wealth  of  the  wealthy  and  the 
poverty  of  the  poor.  This  is  the  working,  the  unavoidable  result  of 
the  capitalistic  system.  What  will  it  lead  to? 


CHAPTER  IV. 


SPEECH  IN  SPRINGFIELD,  O. 

A  Cold  Hall  but  a  Good  Audience — Futility  of  Attempting 
to  Remedy  an  Effect  Without  Understanding  Its  Cause — 
Existing  Institutions  Based  on  Force — Origin  of  Private 
Property  Traced  to  Conquests  in  the  Middle  Ages — Ma¬ 
chinery — Development  of  Capitalism  in  the  Past  Decade 
— The  Middle  Class  Forced  Into  the  Ranks  of  the  Wage- 
Slaves. 

Taken  from  a  Springfield  Capitalistic  Paper  of  February  26,  1886. 

A  crowd  of  several  hundred  people  gathered  at  the  Mikado 
skating  rink  last  night  to  hear  the  Socialist,  Parsons,  of  Chicago, 
deliver  an  address  on  the  subject  of  labor  and  capital.  He  was  intro¬ 
duced  at  half-past  7  o’clock  by  the  Chairman,  A.  E.  Poling,  and 
spoke  for  three  hours,  although  the  hall  was  as  cold  as  a  dead  man’s 
feet.  Pie  opened  his  remarks  with  a  gentle  reminder  that  the  hall 
was  cold,  but  said  he  hoped  to  warm  his  hearers  up  before  he  got 
through. 

He  spoke  in  substance  as  follows : 

“I  am  not  here  to  win  the  applause  or  the  approval  of  the 
audience  so  much  as  to  perform  my  duty  at  a  serious  time  in  the 
history  of  this  country  and  civilization,  and  to  lay  before  them  for 
calm  and  deliberate  consideration  matters  that  affect  their  pros¬ 
perity,  happiness,  and  very  existence.  This  meeting  is  composed 
mainly,  if  not  entirely,  of  workingmen  and  women.  There  must  be 
something  of  interest  that  will  bring  out  a  crowd  like  this  on  such  a 
night  as  this.  Your  interest  in  this  is  only  an  indication  of  the 
great  spirit  of  unrest  and  discontent  that  is  spreading  throughout 
the  four  corners  of  the  world.  We  are  to  consider  to-night  the 
difference  between  the  capitalists  of  this  country  and  the  working 


91 


9 2  A.  R.  PARSONS'  EASTERN  TRIP. 

people.  What  I  have  to  say  is  from  the  standpoint  of  a  Socialist. 
I  wish  to  speak  to  you  upon  Socialism,  upon  co-operation,  labor, 
upon  Anarchy.  There  is  something  that  is  producing  the  con¬ 
dition  of  affairs  which  we  witness  all  around  us  to-day.  There  must 
be  a  cause  for  every  effect.  A  tree  is  known  by  its  fruit.  Why  is 
there  such  an  unrest  and  discontent  among  the  people?  This  is 
the  thing  to  be  sought  for.  We  must  ascertain  the  cause  before 
we  can  remedy  it  or  before  we  can  treat  properly  the  effect  result¬ 
ing  from  that  cause.  Upon  every  hand  we  witness  the  indications 
which  point  unmistakably  to  a  Socialistic  revolution.  This  revolu¬ 
tion  may  be  peaceful ;  it  may  be  violent ;  but  that  there  is  a  revolu¬ 
tion  pending  no  intelligent  man  can  doubt.  The  Socialists  ascribe 
this  to  the  existing  system  of  industry  known  as  capitalism.  What 
is  this?  It  is  the  monopolization  by  a  few  of  the  means  of  human 
exitence,  the  appropriation  by  a  few  of  the  means  whereby  other 
people  live.  What  is  this  institution,  and  whence  does  it  come? 
It  had  its  origin  in  the  Middle  Ages,  but  its  more  recent  develop¬ 
ment  has  been  of  a  very  modern  character.  The  private  owner¬ 
ship  of  land,  its  monopolization  by  a  few,  the  private  ownership  of 
capital,  the  means  of  production  and  common  exchange ;  the 
system  of  private  property ;  the  ownership  by  a  few  of  machinery, 
of  lands,  of  houses,  of  all  the  implements  of  production  and  ex¬ 
change.  The  private  ownership  of  capital  is  the  cause  of  the  diffi¬ 
culties  under  which  we  are  suffering.  It  had  its  origin  in  the 
Middle  Ages  in  violence,  in  bloodshed,  and  in  war.  The  existing 
system  of  industry  and  the  existing  civilization  of  the  world  had  its 
origin  in  force,  in  physical  violence,  and  it  came  about  by  one  set 
of  men  in  the  center  of  Europe  seeing  the  peaceful  valleys  below, 
the  waving  harvests,  the  lowing  herds,  and  the  industry  of  the 
peaceful  vale,  and  looking  with  jealousy  upon  these  peaceful  habi¬ 
tations.  They  swept  down  upon  them,  seized  their  property,  put 
the  men  to  death,  captured  their  women  and  children,  bound  them 
in  chains  and  held  them  as  personal  slaves,  appropriating  the  land, 
houses,  and  property  of  these  people.  This  is  the  origin,  and  it  is 
producing  the  results  which  we  see  to-day.” 

The  speaker  went  on  to  show  the  difference  between  now  and 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  EASTERN  TRIP. 


93 


twenty-five  years  ago,  claiming  that  the  invention  of  labor-saving 
machinery,  the  discovery  of  steam  and  electricity,  were  detrimental 
to  our  country’s  interest,  when  monopolized.  He  illustrated  his 
point  by  citing  the  trade  of  a  shoe-maker.  Twenty-five  years  ago 
one  man  made  the  whole  shoe  and  was  in  business  for  himself,  but  * 
now,  with  the  invention  of  labor-saving  machinery,  it  took  fifty-two 
men  to  make  one  shoe,  so  that  a  man  in  that  trade  now  is  only  the 
fifty-second  part  of  a  shoe-maker.  This  is  what  the  Socialists 
mean,  he  said,  when  they  speak  of  the  development  of  the  capital¬ 
istic  system  and  the  effect  which  it  produced. 

The  speaker  then  took  the  census  of  1880  in  Ohio  and  deducted 
the  following  conclusions :  In  the  State  of  Ohio  in  1880  there  were 
$47,000,000  more  employed  as  capital  than  in  1870.  In  other  words, 
in  ten  years  the  capital  engaged  in  the  manufacturing  industries  in 
Ohio  increased  $47,000,000.  While  the  capital  increased  nearly 
$50,000,000  the  number  of  the  capitalists  engaged  in  manufactur¬ 
ing  decreased  2,070.  There  were  46,407  more  wage-workers  em¬ 
ployed  in  1880  in  these  industries  than  in  1870.  The  wages  in  1870 
on  the  average  were  $357.62;  in  1880,  $334.18.  Wages  were  re¬ 
duced  during  these  ten  years  15  per  cent.;  the  profits  were  20 
per  cent,  greater.  The  number  of  manufacturers  had  decreased,  the 
amount  of  capital  invested  had  increased,  and  the  wage-workers 
had  increased  nearly  50,000,  thus  proving  that  the  rich  are  get¬ 
ting  richer  and  the  poor  poorer.  The  number  of  those  who  are  rich 
is  decreasing,  but  the  riches  of  the  rich  are  constantly  increasing. 
That  is,  he  who  five  years  ago  was  a  millionaire  is  to-day  worth  ten 
millions,  but  where  there  were  five  millionaires  five  years  ago,  to-day 
there  are  only  three.  That  is,  the  number  of  those  who  are  driven 
to  the  necessity  of  working  for  daily  wages  is  increasing,  while  the 
number  of  those  who  cannot  find  employment  at  any  price  is  also 
increasing.  These  result,  the  speaker  continued,  from  three  dif¬ 
ferent  causes.  The  army  of  the  unemployed,  those  who  are  kept  in 
compulsory  and  enforced  idleness,  is  being  swelled.  How?  First, 
by  labor  saving  machinery ;  and  second,  by  the  crowding  out  of  the 
middle  class,  and  destroying  them,  and  dividing  them  into  the 
class  of  wage-workers.  Thus  this  army  is  being  increased  all  the 


94 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  EASTERN  TRIP. 


time ;  the  necessities  of  thq  people  contantly  increase,  and  the 
opportunities  to  satisfy  their  wants  constantly  diminish.  These 
are  the  forces  that  are  generating  the  social  revolution.  There  is 
increased  profit  for  the  capitalist ;  reduced  wages  for  the  unemployed 
class;  the  number  of  those  who  are  seeking  employment  increases, 
and  the  number  of  those  who  find  employment  decreases ;  capital 
is  increased  and  piled  up  until  we  have  some  men  in  this  country 
whose  wealth  can  be  estimated  at  over  $200,000,000. 

The  speaker  then  strayed  from  the  argument  and  gave  some 
interesting  figures  in  regard  to  Vanderbilt’s  fortune  of  over  $300,- 
000,000.  He  said  if  this  amount  of  money  was  laid  along  in  $1 
bills  it  would  reach  25,000  miles,  or  clear  around  the  earth.  If  it 
was  coined  into  silver  it  would  take  fourteen  freight  trains,  each 
consisting  of  seventeen  cars,  pulled  by  two  locomotives  each. 

He  next  quoted  Bradstreet,  of  commercial  agency  fame,  as  fol¬ 
lows :  Last  year  there  were  11,500  business  men  who  went  to  their 
financial  death,  and  of  these  90  per  cent,  had  a  capital  of  less  than 
$5,000  each.  This  shows  that  the  capitalistic  system  is  like  the 
whale  in  the  ocean — the  big  fish  eat  the  minnows,  and  the  big  cap¬ 
italists  swallow  the  small  business  men.  The  property  of  these 
12,000  men  represented  over  $200,000,000.  Their  bankruptcy  did 
not  mean  that  this  money  was  destroyed;  it  meant  that  it  was 
transferred  to  the  richer  fellows’  pockets,  and  that  there  were  12,000 
more  men  in  the  United  States,  who  had  been  in  business  for  them¬ 
selves,  now  compelled  to  work  for  wages.  Rich  people  make  their 
money  in  two  ways :  when  they  get  property  from  the  smaller 
business  men  they  make  it  indirectly,  and  when  they  make  it  from 
the  working  classes  they  make  it  in  a  direct  way,  or  straight.  There 
were  forclosures  of  mortgages  alone  in  the  United  States  of  nearly 
$500,000,000. 


CHAPTER  V. 


LETTER  TO  HIS  WIFE. 

Interesting  Account  of  Some  of  the  Difficulties  that  Beset 
the  Path  of  a  Reformer — Editor  Winehart,  of  the  Coal 
Center  “Messenger/'  Advises  the  Workingmen  to  Receive 
Agitator  Parsons  in  a  Hostile  Manner,  but  Afterward 
Changes  His  Opinion — Effect  of  the  Mass-Meeting  on 
the  Audience — No  Leaders — The  Propaganda  Suffers 
from  Want  of  Means. 

My  Dear  Wife: 

*  *  *  My  trip  would  fill  a  volume  with  the  realistic  side 

of  life  under  wage-slavery  and  an  occasional  gleam  of  grim  humor. 
Everywhere  I  have  met  with  the  most  gratifying  success — under  the 
circumstances.  The  lack  of  means  to  properly  advertise,  and  the 
haste  resulting  from  the  same  cause,  has  alone  prevented  complete 
and  lasting  results.  Under  such  circumstances  one  cannot  do  what 
they  would,  but  only  what  they  can.  As  I  said,  my  trip  is  over¬ 
flowing  with  interest,  especially  to  one  like  you,  whose  whole  being 
is  wrapped  up  in  the  progress  of  the  social  revolution.  I  will  give 
you  a*  sample  incident,  reserving  others,  owing  to  their  length,  until 
I  return  home.  It  was  at  Coal  Center,  some  fifty  miles  from  Pitts¬ 
burg,  on  the  Monongahela  river.  There  was  no  one  with  whom  I 
could  communicate  except  the  editor  of  the  weekly  paper  published 
there.  I  was  twenty  miles  from  Monongahela,  and  at  the  instance 
of  Comrade  Robert  F.  Hill  sent  a  note  announcing  a  mass-meeting 
to  be  held  on  the  following  day. 

Well,  on  that  day  I  reached  the  place  about  2  o’clock  p.  m.,  and 
found  myself  a  total  stranger  in  a  country  town,  which  is  a  quaint, 
singular-looking  place,  located  in  the  narrow  valley  along  the  banks 
of  the  Monongahela  and  overshadowed  by  the  towering  hills  of  this 


95 


9  6 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  EASTERN  TRIP. 


region.  The  streets  ^re  dotted  with  groups  of  three  and  four  men, 
coarsely-clad,  grim-visaged,  sturdy,  and  stolid ;  the  weather  cold 
and  shivering;  the  prospect  all  but  inviting.  Not  knowing  which 
way  to  turn,  I  naturally  inquired  for  the  office  of  the  Messenger. 
Once  there  I  inquired  for  the  proprietor,  Mr.  Winehart,  and  at  once 
introduced  myself  to  him.  I  found  him  to  be  a  young  man  of  35,  a 
genuine  type  of  the  modern  American — lank,  thin-visaged,  keen¬ 
eyed,  quick-witted,  and  resolute.  After  a  few  words  I  inquired  if 
he  had  received  my  note.  He  replied  that  he  had,  and  had  pub¬ 
lished  it ;  upon  request  I  was  handed  a  copy  of  the  paper. 

The  day  was  cold  and  depressing,  the  town  uninviting,  and  the 
man  who  stood  before  me  as  chilly  as  an  iceberg.  Imagine,  then, 
my  situation  when  I  read  the  comment  on  the  announcement,  which 
advised  the  workingmen  of  Coal  Center  to  receive  Agitator  Parsons 
with — rotten  eggs,  and  throw  him  into  the  river !  I  said  to  myself : 
“Steady,  steady — there  is  hard  work  ahead !” 

“Well,”  said  I,  looking  up  and  addressing  the  editor  who  stood 
near  by,  “how  is  this  ?” 

“That’s  our  opinion  of  agitators  in  this  region,”  he  replied. 

“I  should  expect  such  treatment  from  the  coal  syndicate,”  said 
I,  “but  not  from  those  whom  it  oppresses.” 

I  remembered  that  the  Messenger  was  the  only  paper  in  the  val¬ 
ley  which  stood  by  the  miners  in  their  long  strike,  and  while  wonder¬ 
ing  at  its  hostility  toward  me  the  editor  said : 

“Well,  sir,  those  are  our  sentiments.  These  infernal  agitators 
are  a  curse  to  us.  They  have  ruined  this  valley.  They  have  kept 
the  miners  idle  and  they  ought  to  be  drowned.” 

While  he  spoke  his  jaws  were  firmly  set  and  his  countenance 
determined  and  pale. 

“Well,  sir,”  said  I,  keeping  perfectly  cool,  “I  have  seen  the 
papers  of  this  valley  abusing  you  because  you  stood  for  the  strug¬ 
gling  miners,  and  I  judged  from  it  you  were  something  of  an  agita¬ 
tor  yourself,”  and  I  eyed  him  closely  and  I  perceived  I  had  fired  a 
shot  that  struck  him.  “And,”  said  I,  “you  certainly  must  concede 
that  Thomas  Buckle,  the  author  of  the  ‘History  of  Civilization, ’  was 
right  when  he  said,  that  the  barrier  to  all  progress  and  civilization 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  EASTERN  TRIP. 


97 


is  the  indifference  and  inertness  of  the  people.  That  agitators  are 
public  benefactors,  whether  they  be  right  or  wrong,  as  they  do  for 
the  people  what  is  done  for  a  person  who  is  freezing  in  a  snow¬ 
storm — they  shake  up  the  dying  man  and  prevent  him  from  freez¬ 
ing.  You  have  read  that  work?” 

''No,”  said  he,  “I  haven’t ;  but  our  valley  is  ruined  and  these 
agitators  have  done  the  work.” 

I  paid  no  attention  to  this  latter  remark  and  began  to  read  his 
paper.  After  five  or  ten  minutes  I  said  to  him : 

“I  am  a  stranger  here  and,  of  course,  don’t  know  whether  I 
can  get  a  hall  or  not.  Do  you  know  of  any  hall  ?” 

“Yes,”  said  he,  “there  are  two  (giving  the  names),  but  I  think 
Guiske’s  the  best.” 

A  smile  of  satisfaction  ran  over  my  face  as  I  reflected  and  said 
to  myself :  “I  have  melted  this  man ;  he  need  not  have  given  me 
this  information,”  and  on  the  principle  that  “he  who  hesitates  is 
lost,”  I  said :  “Do  you  know  Mr.  Guiske  and  would  you  spare  the 
time  to  walk  down  that  way  ?” 

“I  don’t  care  if  I  do,”  said  he,  and  putting  on  his  coat  we 
strolled  leisurely  down-town  together.  Meantime  I  was  engaged  in 
conquering  my  antagonist.  I  said  nothing  about  Socialism,  but 
asked  questions  about  truck  stores,  coal  bosses,  miners,  etc.,  etc. 
Walking  three  blocks,  we  did  not  find  the  proprietor  of  the  hall  in, 
and  upon  the  invitation  of  the  editor  we  strolled  around  the  town 
to  find  him.  This  took  another  half  hour. 

Well,  then  we  returned  to  Guiske’s  store ;  he  had  left  word  with 
his  wife  to  have  him  call  at  his  office. 

An  hour  or  more  passed  in  casual  conversation  when  the  hall- 
man  appeared.  Winehart  engaged  the  hall,  which  is  run  as  a  skat¬ 
ing  rink,  and  is  up  stairs  over  two  brick  stores  owned  by  the  same 
man.  He  accompanied  us  to  the  hotel.  Winehart  said :  “This  is 
Mr.  Parsons,  from  Chicago ;  give  him  the  best  you  have  in  the  house 
and  send  the  bill  to  me.”  He  remained  with  me  until  i  o’clock  that 
night,  and  on  bidding  me  good-night  said :  “Parsons,  I  made  a 
mistake,”  and,  holding  my  hand,  he  continued :  “Count  me  your 
friend;  put  down  my  name  for  the  Alarm.  We  must  have  you  here 


98 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  EASTERN  TRIP. 


again  right  away,  and  we  will  endeavor  to  raise  the  money  and 
send  for  you  from  Pittsburg  before  you  go  back  to  Chicago,  when 
we  will  have  over  a  thousand  men  to  hear  you.” 

Everything  considered,  this  whole  affair  was  remarkable.  In 
this  instance  it  can  be  said  of  Socialism  what  Caesar  said:  “ Veni , 
vidi,  vici.” 

The  impression  created  upon  the  audience  that  night,  as  well 
as  all  others  I  have  addressed,  was  tremendous.  It  seemed  to  stun 
them.  They  acted  as  a  man  who  has  been  traveling  a  whole  day  and 
felicitating  himself  that  he  is  near  his  journey’s  end  when  it  sud¬ 
denly  dawns  upon  him  he  has  traveled  the  wrong  direction,  and 
must  retrace  his  steps.  He  stops,  sits  down  to  rest,  and  ponders. 

Things  are  in  a  bad  way  in  this  region.  There  are  no  leaders 
among  the  wage-slaves  here. 

Oh,  that  I  had  the  means  !*  I  would  batter  down  the  ramparts 
of  wrong  and  oppression  and  plant  the  flag  of  humanity  on  the 
ruins.  Truly  the  harvest  is  great,  but  it  takes  time  and  means,  and 
no  great  means  either,  but  more  than  we  have.  But  patience, 
patience ! 

Your  loving  husband, 

Albert  R.  Parsons. 

Pittsburg,  Pa.,  January  26,  1886. 


*The  grand  jury’s  indictment  alleged,  among  other  things,  that  Mr. 
Parsons  was  only  in  the  movement  for  the  money  which  he  could  make  of- 
his  dupes. 


PART  V. 


CHAPTER  I. 

SELECTED  EDITORIALS. 

Articles  from  the  Pen  of  Albert  R.  Parsons — “Chattel  and 
Wage-Slavery" — An  Inquiry  to  Determine  Wherein  They 
Differ — -“The  Object  of  the  Social  Revolution" — Capital 
the  Product  of  Past  and  Present  Generations — “A  Fable" 
— The  Farmer  and  His  Sheep — Its  Moral — “The  Cut- 
Down" — The  Markets  Sustained  in  Proportion  to  the 
Ability  of  the  Consumer  to  Purchase — The  Board  of 
Trade  Dedication — What  Anarchy  Means. 

CHATTEL  AND  WAGE  SLAVERY. 

Editorial  taken  from  c‘The  Alarm  ” 

The  owner  of  a  chattel  slave  compelled  obedience  by  the  use  of 
the  lash,  deprivation  of  food,  etc.  The  system  of  chattel,  slavery 
was  justified  on  the  ground  that  the  slave  had  been  bought 
and  paid  for,  and  was  therefore  the  private  property  of  the  master. 
This  institution  of  property  in  the  persons  of  men,  women  and 
children,  who  were  bought  and  sold  separately  or  in  lots  to  suit  the 
buyers  and  sellers,  was  perpetuated  by  the  constitution,  legal  enact¬ 
ments,  Govermental  authority  of  the  United  States  of  America  for 
nearly  a  hundred  years  as  a  perfectly  legitimate,  moral,  and  money¬ 
making  system  of  labor.  The  chattel-slave  system  has  been  abol¬ 
ished,  and  the  services  of  labor  heretofore  rendered  under  it  are 
now  performed  under  the  wage  system.  The  old  system  is  spoken 
of  by  many  as  the  slave  labor  of  the  past,  and  the  present  system 
is  referred  to  as  the  free  labor  of  the  present.  Under  the  old  system 


99 


IOO 


SELECTED  EDITORIALS. 


the  worker  was  provided  with  food,  clothing,  and  shelter  by  his 
master ;  under  the  hew  system  the  worker  is  paid  wages  with  which 
he  is  made  to  provide  himself  with  food,  clothing,  and  shelter. 
Under  the  old  system  the  necessaries  of  life  were  always  furnished 
the  slave;  under  the  new,  the  wage-worker  is  often  on  strike,  or 
locked  out,  or  in  a  state  of  enforced  idleness,  consequently  suffering 
and  sometimes  perishing  for  want  of  the  necessaries  of  life. 

The  amount  of  wages  over  and  above  what  will  provide  the 
worker  with  the  necessaries  of  life  is  what  constitutes  the  sum  total 
of  liberty  gained  by  the  change  from  chattel  to  wage  slavery.  The 
amount  of  wages  paid  for  a  day’s  or  an  hour’s  work  is  on  an  aver¬ 
age  no  more  than  a  bare  subsistence,  and  bears  no  relation  what¬ 
ever  to  the  amount  of  wealth  produced  or  the  real  value  of  the 
laborer’s  products.  Wage-workers  perform  twelve  hours’  work  for 
three  hours’  pay,  because  the  extra  nine  hours’  work  is  the  price 
charged  by  the  owners  of  capital  for  the  use  for  three  hours  of  the 
implements  of  labor;  or,  according  to  the  United  States  census  for 
1880,  each  wage-worker  (and  there  are  17,000,000  of  them  in  this 
country)  is  permitted  to  make  on  an  average  of  $346  annually  for 
himself,  provided  he  will  produce  at  the  same  time  $700  for  his  em¬ 
ployer,  who  charges  this  sum  for  the  use  of  his  capital.  These  are 
hard  terms,  but  they  are  the  best  than  can  be  had  from  the  owners 
of  capital,  since  the  private  ownership  gf  the  means  of  existence, 
capital,  confers  upon  its  owners  the  right  to  deny  its  use  altogether. 

The  question  arises :  What  then,  is  the  difference  between  the 
old  and  the  new  system  of  labor?  If  the  wage-laborer  can  be  locked 
out,  discharged,  and  thrown  into  a  state  of  enforced  idleness  at  the 
will  of  the  owners  of  capital,  in  what  does  the  wage-laborer's  rights 
or  liberties  consist?  The  wage  system  guarantees  to  the  laborer  but 
one  right,  viz. :  the  right  to  starve !  The  private  ownership  of  capital 
clothes  its  possessor  with  the  authority  of  compulsion,  the  wage- 
laborers  being  driven  by  the  necessities  of  human  existence  to  accept 
with  alacrity  the  offer  of  their  capitalistic  benefactors,  who  permit 
them  to  earn  their  daily  bread ! 

The  laborer  can  never  be  a  free  man  till  he  owns,  in  common 
with  all  other  laborers,  capital — i.  e.,  the  means  of  his  own  existence 


SELECTED  EDITORIALS. 


IOI 

— for  as  shown  above,  the  organization  of  society  on  any  other  basis 
is  the  practical  enslavement  of  the  laborer,  the  difference  between 
chattel-slavery  and  wage-slavery  being  one  of  form.  The  substance 
remains  the  same :  the  capitalist  in  the  former  system  owned  the 
laborer,  and  hence  his  product,  while  under  the  latter  he  owns  his 
labor  product,  and  hence  the  person  of  the  wage-laborer. 

THE  OBJECT  OF  THE  SOCIAL  REVOLUTION. 

Editorial  taken  from  “ The  Alarm.” 

Our  branch  of  Socialism  holds  that  all  existing  statutory  and 
constitutional  powers  of  the  Government  confer  on  capitalists  and 
the  property-holding  classes  the  power  to  compel  the  wage-workers 
to  yield  implicit  obedience  to  their  commands  under  the  penalty  of 
starvation  or  death  by  physical  violence.  This  is  what  we  call  wage- 
slavery.  We  insist  that  no  such  thing  as  freedom  of  contract  can 
exist  between  the  dependent  and  independent.  There  can  be  no 
equality  between  those  who  hold  the  means  of  subsistence  as  their 
private  property,  and  who  can  and  do  dictate  the  terms  of  existence 
to  the  propertyless.  Arbitration,  on  this  account,  must  prove  a 
failure. 

The  march  of  events  is  toward  a  social  revolution.  By  this  ex¬ 
pression  we  mean  the  time  when  the  wage-laborers  of  this  and 
other  countries  will  assert  their  rights — natural  rights — and  main¬ 
tain  them  by  force  of  arms.  The  social  revolution  means  the  ex¬ 
propriation  of  the  means  of  production  and  the  resources  of  life, 
or,  in  other  words,  the  opportunity  to  work  and  live  with  the  un¬ 
restricted  use  of  all  the  means  of  subsistence.  This  revolution  will 
place  capital  at  the  disposition  of  society,  and,  being  a  social  prod¬ 
uct,  the  result  of  the  joint  efforts  of  the  present  and  past  genera¬ 
tions,  belongs  by  natural  right  to  society  alone.  This  outcome  is  a 
necessity  which  cannot  be  avoided.  We  would  prefer  a  peaceful 
solution  rather  than  war,  but  we  do  not  bring  about  the  revolution. 
On  the  contrary,  the  social  condition  creates  the  revolutionists.  It 
will  not  come  because  we  wish  it,  but  because  it  must  come.  We 
simply  foretell  its  approach  and  prepare  for  it. 


102 


SELECTED  EDITORIALS. 


When  that  time  shall  come  the  means  of  human  subsistence 
will  be  changed  into  social  wealth.  Capital  will  cease  to  be  private 
property  under  private  control,  and  will  be  held  in  common  for  the 
benefit  of  all.  Boycotting,  strikes,  and  riots  are  simply  indications 
of  the  social  uneasiness,  the  outcome  of  which  must  be  revolution. 


A  FABLE. 

Editorial  taken  from  “ The  Alarm.” 

A  farmer  had  gathered  his  herd  of  sheep  into  a  pen  pre¬ 
paratory  to  shearing  them  of  their  wool.  Finally,  one  sheep,  be¬ 
coming  more  bold  than  his  timid  comrades,  seeing  the  farmer  stand¬ 
ing  at  the  gate  with  his  long  shears  in  his  hand,  addressed  him  thus : 

“Pray,  sir,  why  do  you  huddle  us  together  in  this  style?  Will 
you  not  let  us  out  to  play  and  gambol  on  the  hillside?  It  is  hot, 
dusty,  and  dry,  and  very  uncomfortable  to  be  cooped  up  in  this  pen.” 

Farmer:  “Certainly,  certainly.  But  before  I  turn  you  out  I 
must  shear  you  of  your  wool.” 

Sheep :  “Pray,  sir,  what  harm  have  we  ever  done  you  that  you 
should  now  take  the  covering  from  our  backs,  and  leave  us  unpro¬ 
tected  from  the  storms  of  winter  and  the  heats  of  summer  ?” 

Farmer:  “You  ungrateful  wretches.  Have  you  no  sense  of 
gratitude  for  the  many  favors  I  have  always  shown  you?  If  it  were 
not  for  me  how  could  you  exist  at  all?  Don’t' I  furnish  you  the 
green  pasture  upon  which  you  browse  and  play  ?  Besides  that,  when 
I  shear  off  your  present  coating  of  wool  are  you  not  permitted  by 
my  generosity  to  graze  upon  my  fields  and  soon  supply  yourselves 
with  another  coating?” 

The  rest  of  the  timid  and  thoughtless  herd,  overhearing  the 
conversation*,  immediately  set  up  a  great  “hurrah”  for  their  sup¬ 
posed  benefactor,  and  one  and  all  calmly  and  patiently  and  with  ap¬ 
parent  satisfaction  submitted  themselves  to  the  process  of  being 
“fleeced  of  their  wool.” 

Moral :  When  capitalists  and  their  lying  preachers,  teachers, 
and  politicians  set  themselves  up  as  the  benefactors  of  their  wage- 


SELECTED  EDITORIALS. 


103 


slaves,  and  begin  their  long-winded  discourses  upon  the  “harmony” 
of  capital  and  labor,  you  may  be  sure  that  they  are  merely  prepar¬ 
ing  their  wage-slaves  for  a  quiet  submission  while  they  “fleece”  them 
of  their  labor  product. 


THE  CUT-DOWN. 

Editorial  taken  from  “ The  Alarm  ” 

The  markets  of  the  country  come  from  the  amount  of  wages 
the  working  people  receive.  Cut  down  wages  10  per  cent,  all  over 
the  country  and  you  have  lost  about  10  per  cent,  of  the  purchasing 
power  of  the  country.  When  this  falling-off  of  demand  in  the 
market  has  taken  place,  then  another  cut-down  is  more  necessary 
than  the  first.  A  third-cut-down  makes  the  pressure  still  greater 
for  another  cut-down,  and  so  on,  until  no  power  on  earth  can 
sustain  the  market  or  demand  for  any  production  beyond  that 
necessary  to  keep  life  in  the  body.  A  strike  has  the  same  effect  to 
cripple  the  market,  while  the  striker  is  earning  nothing,  that  the 
cut-down  of  wages  has.  As  a  cut-down  takes  from  the  purchasing 
power  of  the  country,  and  a  strike  does  the  same  thing,  the  whole 
fight  is  only  a  choice  of  evils,  and  are  the  natural  fruits  of  the 
wage-system. 

Add  to  this  the  competing  force  of  the  unemployed  laborer, 
caused  by  a  weak  market  of  demand  that  threw  him  out,  and  then 
we  get  the  full  meaning  of  a  cut-down  or  long  strike,  and  see  how 
one  cut-down  or  strike  aids  and  forces  another  cut-down.  A  strike 
forces  another  cut-down  as  much  as  a  cut-down  does. 


So  much  was  said  at  the  trial  about  the  demonstration  of  the 
Anarchists  on  the  night  the  Board  of  Trade  was  dedicated  that  we 
decided  to  print  an  editorial,  taken  from  The  Alarm,  of  May  2, 
without  changing  a  single  word,  and  let  the  readers  judge  for  them¬ 
selves  Mr.  Parsons’  position  upon  the  matter. 


104 


SELECTED  EDITORIALS. 


A  GAMBLING  HELL. 

The  Chicago  Board  of  Trade  building,  costing  $2,000,000,  was 
dedicated  this  week  in  a  blaze  of  magnificence,  eclipsing  the  Oriental 
splendor.  Delegates  were  present  from  all  the  great  commercial 
centers  of  America  and  England  to  participate  in  the  event. 

The  occasion  was  one  which  marks  an  epoch  in  the  historical 
development  of  the  private  property  system,  based  on  wages  and 
competition.  It  was  the  crowning  triumph  of  the  Fourth  Estate. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  historical  needs  of  a  system,  by 
which  a  class  of  men  who  were  originally  merely  peddlers,  despised 
by  the  nobility  and  the  king  and  the  church,  they  have  now  reached 
the  summit  of  power  by  means  of  commerce  and  trade,  until  king, 
nobility,  church  and  state  are  to-day  the  creatures  of  their  will.  This 
is  the  day  of  the  reign  of  Mammon — money  rules  the  roost.  It  rules 
the  camp,  the  court,  the  grove ;  heaven  above  and  men  below. 

In  the  day  of  its  fruitage  and  maturity,  the  fruit  is  touched  with 
the  blighting  fingers  of  decay  and  death.  Whatever  may  have  been 
the  uses  and  benefits  of  commerce,  based  upon  profit-mongery,  in  the 
past,  we  will  not  now  mention.  But  the  Board  of  Trade  and  the 
civilization  which  it  represents  is  doomed  to  a  certaiit  and  speedy 
decay.  Now  is  the  hey-day  of  its  power  and  glory;  now  also  is  the 
day  of  its  decline  and  destruction.  Our  Chicago  Board  of  Trade 
was  opened  with  regal  splendor,  within  its  walls  was  wealth,  ease, 
luxury,  and  power.  But  beneath  the  shadow  of  its  stately  dome 
there  at  the  same  time  lurked  the  destroying  angels  of  misery  and 
want.  The  working  people  of  Chicago  in  thousands  turned  out  upon 
this  occasion  and  within  sight  of  this  dazzling  pageantry  they  mut¬ 
tered  curses  loud  and  deep.  Aind  why?  Because  they  know  that 
the  Board  of  Trade  is  a  conspiracy  of  the  rich  to  rob  and  enslave 
the  people  under  legal  forms,  by  enhancing  the  cost  of  living,  and 
robbing  both  producers  and  consumers  for  the  benefit  of  those  social 
parasites  known  as  “business  men.”  These  are  the  merchants,  the 
commercial  pirates,  who  erect  their  fortresses,  known  as  boards  of 
trade,  upon  the  highways  of  communication  and  transportation  and 
levy  tribute  upon  all  that  passes  either  way.  Under  the  pretense 


SELECTED  EDITORIALS. 


105 


of  “buying  and  selling”  they  have  inaugurated  a  system  of  plunder 
and  extortion  by  which  they  have  amassed  untold  wealth,  without 
having  rendered  an  equivalent  or  performed  any  useful  labor  what¬ 
ever.  They  use  the  power  of  combined  wealth  in  private  hands  to 
create  an  artificial  scarcity  or  famine  among  the  people  and  by  the 
same  process  force  down  the  selling  price  when  they  themselves 
want  to  buy  until  the  producer  is  fleeced  of  his  entire  harvest.  They 
play  with  loaded  dice,  and  pile  up  gains  upon  gains  until  the  work¬ 
ing  class,  who  pay  for  it,  are  crushed  by  the  weight  of  poverty. 
They  are  the  high  priests  in  the  temple  of  capitalism  where,  under 
the  forms  of  profit,  interest  and  rent,  the  producers  of  the  world 
are  made  and  kept  poor. 

The  commercial  and  trading  and  manufacturing  classes  are  di¬ 
rectly  antagonistic  to  the  welfare  of  both  consumers  and  producers. 
They  overwork  and  underpay  the  toilers,  and  overcharge  the  con¬ 
sumers.  Individually  and  collectively  they  live  by  chicane  and 
fraud,  and  sap  the  life’s  blood  of  the  industrial  classes.  They  de¬ 
nominate  their  victims  as  “hoodlums”  and  the  “scum,”  and  arro¬ 
gate  to  themselves  the  title  of  “the  better  classes.” 

With  their  stolen  wealth  they  corrupt  and  debauch  the  people 
and  use  the  Church  and  State  as  the  instruments  to  perpetuate  their 
privileges.  They  amass  hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars  by  manipu¬ 
lating  railroad,  mine,  telegraph,  oil,  and  other  stocks.  They  manipu¬ 
late  the  currency  by  Shylock  methods  and  fleece  the  people  of 
hundreds  of  millions  annually.  They  create  panics,  bring  about  busi¬ 
ness  and  commercial  stagnations  for  the  purpose  of  enriching  them¬ 
selves.  In  matters  of  speculation,  a  process  by  which  wealth  is 
derived  without  any  service  or  equivalent,  we  have  a  sample  of 
what  they  do  when  we  recollect  that  Philip  Armour,  of  the  Chicago 
Board  of  Trade,  realized  a  million  and  a  half  dollars  in  twenty-four 
hours  by  manipulating  the  pork  market  last  summer.  They  make 
bread  dear  and  labor  cheap.  They  use  the  law  and  the  Government 
to  maintain  their  infamous  practices.  They  import  hundreds  of 
wage-slaves  from  other  lands  to  lower  the  life  standard  of  the 
native  born.  They  keep  2,000,000  workers  of  America  in  enforced 
idleness.  They  work  little  children  and  defenseless  women  in  the 


io6 


SELECTED  EDITORIALS. 


treadmills  of  labor.  They  create  paupers,  manufacture  vice  and 
crime.  They  /breed  revolution  and  revolutionists,  and  it  is  this 
latter  fact  which  sounds  the  death  knell  of  the  Board  of  Trade  rob¬ 
bers  and  the  civilization  which  they  represent. 


WHAT  ANARCHY  MEANS. 

Editorial  taken  from  “The  Alarm.” 

The  manifesto  of  the  Pittsburg  Congress  of  the  International 
Working  People’s  Association,  issued  October  16,  1883,  concludes 
as  follows : 

What  we  would  achieve  is  therefore  plainly  and  simply: 

First — Destruction  of  the  existing  class  rule  by  all  means;  i.  e.,  by  ener¬ 
getic,  relentless,  revolutionary  and  international  action. 

Second — Establishment  of  a  free  society  based  upon  co-operative  organi¬ 
zation  of  production. 

Third — Free  exchange  of  equivalent  products  by  and  between  the  produc¬ 
tive  organizations  without  commerce  and  profit-mongery. 

Fourth — Organization  of  education  on  a  secular,  scientific  and  equal  basis 
for  both  sexes. 

Fifth — Equal  rights  for  all  without  distinction  to  sex  or  race. 

Sixth — Regulation  of  all  public  affairs  by  free  contracts  between  the 
autonomous  (independent)  communes  and  associations,  resting  on  a  federal¬ 
ists  basis. 

Whoever  agrees  with  this  ideal  let  him  grasp  our  outstretched  brothers’ 
hands ! 

Proletarians  of  all  countries,  unite ! 

Fellow-workmen,  all  we  need  for  the  achievement  of  this  great  end  is 
organization  and  unity. 

t 

The  above  declaration  sets  forth  the  aims  and  methods  of  the 
Anarchists.  It  is,  therefore,  a  matter  of  surprise  to  hear  some  per¬ 
sons  say  that  Anarchists  are  without  design  or  purpose. 

We  often  hear  it  asked,  ‘What  does  Anarchy  mean?”  It  means 
first,  the  destruction  of  the  existing  class  domination.  Until  this 
is  accomplished  reform  or  improvement  in  any  direction  in  the  in¬ 
terest  of  the  proletariat  is  an  impossibility.  All  the  ills  that  inflict 
mankind  are  summed  up  in  one  word — poverty — resulting  from  un- 


SELECTED  EDITORIALS. 


107 


natural  causes.  Remove  this  barrier  from  the  pathway  and  the  march 
of  progress  will  be  steady  and  rapid  toward  the  highest  forms  of 
civilization.  Poverty,  therefore,  is  the  great  curse  of  man. 

The  domination  of  classes  arises  from  privileges  acquired  first,  by 
force  and  chicane,  and  then  enacted  into  statute  law,  and  made  legal 
by  a  constitution.  Through  this  process  the  means  of  existence, 
without  the  use  of  which  life  cannot  be  maintained :  land,  machin¬ 
ery,  transportation,  communication,  etc.,  have  been  made  private 
property — monopolized — until  only  a  few  privileged  persons  in  so¬ 
ciety  possess  the  right  to  live  in  liberty.  The  propertyless,  the  wage 
class,  are  compelled  to  seek  for  bread  and  shelter  of  those  who 
possess  property.  Out  of  this  compulsion  arises  the  slavery  and 
poverty  of  the  wealth-producers.  The  private  property  system  is  a 
despotism  under  which  the  propertyless  are  forced,  under  penalty  of 
starvation,  to  accept  whatever  terms  or  conditions  the  propertied 
may  dictate.  To  remove  this  system  is  the  first  and  paramount 
aim  of  Anarchy,  and  for  its  accomplishment  a  resort  to  any  and  all 
means  becomes  not  only  a  duty  but  a  necessity.  The  ballot-box 
has  ceased  long  since  to  record  the  popular  will,  for  he  who  must 
sell  his  vote  or  starve,  will  sell  his  vote  also,  when  the  same  alterna¬ 
tive  is  presented.  The  class  who  control  the  industries  and  the 
wealth  of  the  country  can  and  do  control  its  votes.  Education  be¬ 
comes  impossible  under  the  drudgery  and  poverty  of  wage-slavery, 
and  of  itself  can  make  no  change.  The  International  recognizes 
that  the  man  of  labor  is  held  by  force  in  economic  subjection  to  the 
monopolizers  of  the  means  of  labor,  the  resources  of  life,  and  that 
from  this  source  arises  the  mental  degradation,  the  political  depend¬ 
ence  and  social  misery  of  the  working  class. 

The  proletariat  being  no  longer  able  to  live  except  in  slavery, 
and  a  large  portion  of  them  denied  even  that  choice,  the  revolution¬ 
ary  movement  becomes  an  absolute  necessity.  This  revolutionary 
movement,  consisting  of  the  discontented  and  starving  proletariat, 
is  organized  into  an  irresistible  power  by  those  men  of  the  wage 
class  who  have  a  historical  insight  into  the  labor  movement  and  the 
outcome  of  the  social  revolution. 

There  are  educated  men  of  the  middle  class,  who,  seeing  the  ap- 


io8 


SELECTED  EDITORIALS. 


proaching  conflict,  or  having  been  themselves  crushed  out  by  the 
weight  of  competition  and  forced  into  the  ranks  of  the  proletariat, 
become  active  and  useful  members  in  organizing  the  elements  of 
discontent. 

The  State  and  its  laws  serve  only  to  perpetuate  the  existing  class 
rule,  and  once  overthrown,  upon  its  ruins  Anarchy  would  place  a 
“free  society,  based  upon  the  co-operative  organization  of  produc¬ 
tion.”  This  free  society  would  be  purely  economic  in  its  character, 
dealing  only  with  the  production  and  distribution  of  wealth.  The 
various  occupations  and  individuals  would  voluntarily  associate  to 
conduct  the  process  of  distribution  and  production.  The  shoe¬ 
makers,  carpenters,  farmers,  printers,  moulders,  and  others  would 
form  autonomous  or  independent  groups  or  communities,  regulat¬ 
ing  all  affairs  to  suit  their  pleasure.  The  trades  unions,  assemblies 
and  other  labor  organizations  are  but  the  initial  groups  of  the  free 
society. 

Freedom  of  exchange  between  the  productive  organizations  with¬ 
out  commerce  or  profit-mongery  would  then  take  the  place  of  the 
existing  speculative  system  with  its  artificial  scarcity  and  plunder¬ 
ing  “corners.” 

Education  would  be  placed  within  the  reach  of  all. 

Equal  rights  would  exist  for  all.  No  rights  without  duties;  no 
duties  without  rights. 

All  public  affairs  would  be  regulated  by  free  contracts  between 
the  autonomous  (independent)  communes  or  groups,  resting  on  a 
federalistic  basis. 

The  free  society  is  the  abrogation  of  all  forms  of  political  gov¬ 
ernment.  The  useless  classes,  lawyers,  judges,  armies,  police,  and 
the  innumerable  hordes  engaged  in  buying,  selling  and  advertising 
their  wares,  would  disappear.  Reason  and  common  sense,  based 
upon  natural  law,  takes  the  place  of  statute  law,  with  its  compulsion 
and  arbitrary  rules. 

Capital,  being  a  thing,  can  have  no  rights.  Persons  alone  have 
rights.  The  existing  system  bestows  all  capital  upon  one  class  and 
labor  upon  the  other ;  hence  the  conflict  is  irrepressible.  The  time 
has  now  arrived  when  the  laborers  must  possess  the  right  to  the  free 


SELECTED  EDITORIALS. 


109 


use  of  capital  with  which  they  work,  or  the  capitalists  will  own  the 
laborers,  body  and  soul.  No  compromise  is  possible.  We  must 
choose  between  freedom  and  slavery.  The  International  defiantly 
unfurls  the  banner  of  liberty,  fraternity,  equality,  and  beneath  its 
scarlet  folds  beckons  the  disinherited  of  earth  to  assemble  and  strike 
down  the  property  beast  which  feasts  upon  the  life-blood  of  the  peo¬ 
ple. 


JOINT  DEBATE— A  REMARKABLE  MEETING. 

Taken  from  “ The  Alarm ”  of  March  21 ,  1885. 

Four  weeks  ago  we  reported  a  meeting  of  the  “Social  Culture 
Club”  of  the  People’s  Church,  at  which  a  number  of  “Judges,” 
“Generals,”  “Colonels,”  and  two  of  our  comrades  held  a  “joint  de¬ 
bate.”  We  stated  then  that  the  debate  in  consequence  of  the  great 
interest  taken  by  all  those  present  did  not  come  to  a  final  conclusion 
and  had  to  be  adjourned  to  the  next  meeting.  This  adjourned  meet¬ 
ing  took  place  Thursday,  March  5,  at  Princeton  Hall,  on  West 
Madison  street.  The  Socialists,  George  Schilling  and  August  Spies, 
had  been  invited  and  were  allowed  to  bring  some  of  their  comrades 
along  with  them.  Therefore,  A.  R.  Parsons,  Sam  Fielden,  J.  Simp¬ 
son,  Wm.  Holmes  and  Mrs.  Ames  were  present  among  other  of  our 
comrades.  The  hall  was  crowded  to  its  full  capacity,  half  the  audi¬ 
ence  being  ladies.  Comrade  Parsons  spoke  as  follows : 

“Ladies  and  Gentlemen :  It  very  seldom  happens  that  I  have  a 
chance  to  speak  before  a  meeting  composed  of  so  many  gentlemen 
with  nice  white  shirts  and  ladies  wearing  elegant  and  costly  toilets. 
I  am  the  notorious  Parsons,  the  fellow  with  the  long  horns,  as  you 
know  him  from  the  daily  press.  I  am  in  the  habit  of  speaking  be¬ 
fore  meetings  composed  of  people  who  by  their  labor  supply  you 
with  all  these  nice  things  while  they  themselves  are  forced  to  dress 
in  coarse  and  common  garments ;  of  such  people  who  build  your  fine 
palaces,  with  all  those  comfortable  fixtures,  while  they  themselves  are 
forced  to  dwell  in  miserable  hovels  or  to  take  shelter  in  a  police 
station.  Are  not  these  charitable  people — these  sans  culotte — 
very  generous  to  you?  [Hisses.]  Our  friend,  Judge  Boyle,  appears 


no 


SELECTED  EDITORIALS. 


to  me  as  a  schoolboy  whistling  while  running  through  a  graveyard 
trying  to  make  himself  believe  he  is  not  afraid  of  ghosts.  This 
honorable  judgeTells  us  that  in  this  country  fifty-five  million  of  peo¬ 
ple  live  in  ease  and  plenty,  but  Bradstreet’s  states  in  his  last  issue 
that  2,000,000  heads  of  families  are  in  enforced  idleness  and  without 
the  means  of  support,  and  Bradstreet's  is  certainly  not  a  lying  Com¬ 
munistic  sheet.  To  be  without  work  means  for  these  men  hunger 
and  misery,  while  no  work  with  you  and  your  class  means  a  pleasant 
state  of  idleness.  [Hisses.]  The  same  paper  gives  us  the  in¬ 
formation  that  in  one  of  the  cotton  factory  towns  of  the  State  of 
Connecticut  700  young  girls,  nearly  all  of  whom  were  under  sixteen 
years  of  age,  were  thrown  out  of  employment  last  fall  by  the  stop¬ 
page  or  lock-out  of  the  mills.  When  they  were  at  work  their  pay 

V 

was  so  meagre,  owing  to  the  fact  that  what  they  had  produced  was 
appropriated  by  their  employers,  that  enforced  idleness  meant  starva¬ 
tion  to  them.  They  were  forced  to  wander  from  town  to  town  on  foot 
through  the  chilling  snow  storms  of  this  winter,  sleeping  in  out¬ 
houses,  barns  and  hay-stacks,  vainly  searching  for  work  and  bread, 
and  all  the  while  defenceless  and  exposed  to  the  lust  of  brutish 
men.  These  female  tramps  are  native  American  girls,  the  daughters 
of  fathers  who  gave  their  lives  to  perpetuate  the  institutions  of  the 
Republic.  In  the  city  of  Boston  we  are  told  that  30,000  heads  of 
families  are  living  upon  charity,  and  that  whole  streets  are  tenanted 
by  families  with  whom  the  possession  of  a  cook-stove  is  regarded 
as  a  badge  of  aristocracy,  the  hole  upon  the  top  of  which  is  rented 
to  the  less  fortunate  for  a  few  pennies  an  hour. 

“This  is  the  city  of  which  Charles  Dickens  tells  us  in  his  work 
entitled  ‘Recollections  Abroad/  after  his  visit  to  America,  that  a 
‘beggar  on  its  streets  would  create  as  much  consternation  as  an 
angel  with  a  flaming  sword.’  These  are  the  mill,  iron,  cotton,  and 
coal  czars  who,  having  pauperized  their  wage-slaves,  now  turn  them 
out  as  beggars  and  tramps  to  freeze  and  starve  to  death. 

“In  this  city  of  Chicago  there  are  35,000  men,  women  and  chil¬ 
dren  in  a  starving  condition,  driven  by  enforced  idleness  to  live  upon 
charity  or  seek  the  suicide’s  grave.  In  the  Desplaines  Street  Station 
alone,  through  the  terribly  cold  winter  nights,  as  many  as  400  home- 


SELECTED  EDITORIALS. 


Ill 


less,  destitute  men  sought  shelter  and  slept  upon  the  cold,  bare  flag¬ 
stones  of  the  prison  cell,  receiving  in  the  morning  at  5  o’clock  a  bowl 
of  hot  soup,  containing  a  slice  of  bread,  for  their  breakfast,  and  then 
turned  out  upon  the  street  to  continue  their  vain  search  for  em¬ 
ployment.  Others,  who  after  midnight  were  turned  out  of  the 
warm  saloons  where  they  had  sought  shelter,  were  driven  to  the  cold 
damp  tunnels,  where  they  trotted  up  and  down  all  night  to  keep 
from  freezing  to  death.  And  yet  Judge  Boyle  tells  us  that  we  have 
a  happy  and  prosperous  nation  of  55,000,000  people.  Listen  now  to 
the  voice  of  hunger  when  I  tell  you  that  unless  you  heed  the  cry  of 
the  people,  unless  you  hearken  to  the  voice  of  reason,  you  will  be 
awakened  by  the  thunders  of  dynamite !”  [At  this  there  was  a  great 
uproar  among  the  audience;  hissing,  ejaculating,  many  rising  and 
stamping  their  feet,  the  ladies  wiping  their  faces  with  handkerchiefs, 
etc.] 

The  speaker  was  proceeding  to  state  what  the  demands  of  So¬ 
cialism  and  Anarchy  consisted  of ;  that  it  meant  a  free  society,  where 
all  would  produce  and  consume  freely  without  restraint. 

The  chairman  nervously  rapped  and  called  the  speaker  to  order, 
calling  upon  two  young  ladies  to  give  them  some  music  and  restore 
harmony  to  the  disturbed  audience. 


Lest  the  reader  should  think  Mr.  Parsons  was  exaggerating  we 
add  the  following  from  the  Hartford  Examiner ,  published  in  Hart¬ 
ford,  Conn. : 

THE  OUTCASTS. 

“The  various  villages  along  the  Willimantic  river  are  Tucker- 
ville,  Staffordville,  Hdyeville,  Furnace  Hollow,  Granville,  Stafford 
Springs,  Foxville,  Orcutville  and  West  Stafford.  Employment  to 
the  people  of  these  places  has  been  furnished  chiefly  by  the  woolen 
mills,  stove  factories,  etc.  There  are  some  3,000  people  of  .both 
sexes  who  depend  entirely  upon  the  work  they  do  at  these  factories 
and  mills.  About  600  young  girls  are  included  in  this  number,  the 
majority  of  them  being  weavers. 


1 12 


SELECTED  EDITORIALS. 


“Since  last  July  fifteen  of  these  concerns  have  locked  out  their 
employes,  and  their  inability  to  find  work  has  brought  starvation 
nearly  unto  death.  The  cases  of  squalor  and  misery  are  too  numer¬ 
ous  to  recite.  In  the  severity  of  the  winter  young  girls  have  tramped 
from  place  to  place  in  search  of  work,  have  begged  shelter  and  food, 
slept  in  outhouses  and  barns,  and  are  to-day  the  victims  of  hunger 
and  exposure.  Wholly  defenseless  they  are  thrown  into  tempta¬ 
tion  and  the  lowest  forms  of  vagrancy.  The  males  tramp  out  fur¬ 
ther  in  the  State  and  become  desperate  and  vicious,  while  the  old 
people  and  infants  remain  in  the  villages,  starving  by  inches.  The 
farmers  are  besieged  by  these  vagrants  and  plundered.  Common 
necessities  of  life  are  unknown  to  hundreds  of  fathers,  mothers  and 
children.  There  is  scarcely  any  beef  to  be  found  at  the  stores  be¬ 
cause  of  the  almost  total  abstinence  from  its  use  among  these  desti¬ 
tute  people.  To  add  to  these  miseries  it  has  been  announced  that 
the  mills  will  not  start  up  until  next  June.” 


% 

CHATTEL  SLAVERY  AND  WAGE  SLAVERY. 

Chattel  slavery  and  wage  slavery  are  but  two  forms  of  the  same 
thing — the  robbery  of  labor. 

Through  competition  among  wealth  producers,  and  combination 
on  the  part  of  non-producers,  all  wealth  and  power  is  passing  into 
the  hands  of  the  latter. 

To  work  is  not  slavery — to  work  and  be  stripped  of  the  pro¬ 
ceeds  of  labor  is  slavery.  A  man  is  a  slave  to  the  extent  the  wealth 
created  by  his  labor  is  appropriated  by  another. 

Under  the  competitive  system  the  struggle  for  existence  between 
manufacturers  on  the  one  hand,  and  workingmen  on  the  other, 
brings,  in  the  long  run,  ruin  and  virtual  slavery  to  all  save  a  few, 
who  may  become  enormously  rich. 


PART  VI. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  HAYMARKET  MEETING. 

A  Graphic  Description  of  the  Attack  on  that  Peaceable 
Assembly — The  Command  to  Disperse  and  the  Tragic 
Reply — Terrible  Effectiveness  of  One  Bomb — The  Police 
Would  Have  Been  an  Easy  Prey  for  an  Organized  Con¬ 
spiracy — A  Reign  of  Terror — Papers  Suspended,  Homes  In¬ 
vaded,  and  Suspects  Subjected  to  Cruel  Indignities. 

Taken  from  the  Denver  “Labor  Enquirer ”  of  May  17,  1886. 

The  readers  of  the  Enquirer  have  read  with  bated  breath  the 
startling  news  flashed  from  this  city  on  Tuesday  last  of  the  usher¬ 
ing  in  and  demonstration  of  the  new  method  of  scientific  warfare. 

What  was  it,  and  what  the  occasion  of  the  bringing  forth  of  the 
fell  destroyer  from  his  lurking-place  in  the  realms  of  science  with 
such  direful  results  ?  The  cause  may  be  given  in  a  future  letter,  the 
results  may  be  given  here. 

The  minions  of  the  oppressing  class  were  marched  up  to  one  of 
the  most  peaceably  assembled  meetings  ever  held  in  this  country 
by  any  class  of  people  to  discuss  questions  concerning  their  own  in¬ 
terests,  and  commanded  them  to  “disperse.”  The  individual  giving 
this  order  was  backed  by  about  300  armed  and  bludgeoned  police, 
whom  the  capitalistic  press  describe  as  having  “grasped  their  clubs 
tighter  as  they  came  in  sight  of  the  Anarchists  assembled.” 

Well,  as  the  minions  moved  from  the  station,  which  was  half  a 
block  away  from  the  meeting,  they  came  like  a  lowering  cloud  to 
blot  out  the  sunlight  of  free  speech  on  American  soil.  Sweeping 
from  curbstone  to  curbstone  (a  new  military  tactic  which  they  had 


113 


THE  HAYMARKET  MEETING. 


1 14 

been  practicing  for  some  time  especially  for  the  Anarchists),  and 
stepping  with  military  precision  and  unbroken  ranks,  each  one 
‘'grasping  tightly  his  club,”  compelled  the  people  peaceably  assembled 
there  to  fall  brack  upon  the  sidewalk.  When  the  three  first  columns  had 
moved  past  the  speakers’  stand  a  halt  was  called.  Then  the  individ¬ 
ual  referred  to  commanded  these  peaceable  people  to  “disperse.” 
The  reply  was  given  in  thunder  tones,  which  shook  the  great  mas¬ 
sive  buildings  for  blocks  around.  A  great  swath  had  been  cut  in 
the  ranks  of  the  police.  But  before  their  groans,  mingled  with  the 
succeeding  echoes  of  the  great  explosion,  could  rise,  as  it  were,  from 
the  place  where  they  originated,  there  came  a  fusilade  of  pistol-shots. 
The  bomb  had  been  flung  with  such  sudden  and  deadly  effect  that  it 
had  thoroughly  disorganized  and  demoralized  the  police,  and  they 
became  an  easy  prey  for  an  enemy  to  attach  and  completely  anni¬ 
hilate  if  there  had  been  any  conspiracy  or  concocted  understanding, 
as  has  been  howled  and  shouted  by  the  capitalistic  press. 

It  was  the  shortest,  sharpest,  and  most  decisive  battle,  I  believe, 
on  record.  In  less  than  three  minutes  the  most  horrible  explosion 
ever  known  of  its  kind  had  taken  place,  over  200  shots  had  been 
fired,  and  over  fifty  police  lay  writhing  in  their  blood  upon  the 
ground.  The  3,000  or  more  persons  who  had  been  assembled  on 
the  spot  less  than  an  hour  previous — where  were  they?  For  nothing 
now  was  to  be  heard  or  seen  but  the  writhing,  groaning  police,  and 
citizens  whose  names  were  never  known,  and  the  coming  and 
going  of  the  patrol,  each  loaded  with  victims  and  conveying  them  to 
the  hospitals. 

Since  that  date  a  reign  of  terror  has  been  inaugurated  which 
would  put  to  shame  the  most  zealous  Russian  blood-hound.  The 
organized  banditti  and  conscienceless  brigands  of  capital  have  sus¬ 
pended  the  only  papers  which  would  give  the  side  of  those  whom 
they  had  crammed  into  prison  cells.  They  have  invaded  the  homes 
of  every  one  who  has  ever  been  known  to  have  raised  a  voice  or 
sympathized  with  those  who  have  had  aught  to  say  against  the 
present  system  of  robbery  and  oppression.  I  say  they  have  invaded 
their  homes  and  subjected  them  and  their  families  to  indignities 
that  must  be  seen  to  be  believed,  This  organized  banditti  have  ar¬ 
rested  me  four  times;  they  have  subjected  me  to  indignities  that 


THE  HAYMARKET  MEETING. 


1 15 

should  bring  the  tinge  of  shame  to  the  calloused  cheek  of  a  hard¬ 
ened  barbarian. 

But  evidently  becoming  convinced  that  I  had  nothing  to  “give 
away,”  they  have  ceased  to  drag  me  to  the  station,  for  the  time  at 
least.  But  my  comrades  need  have  no  concern  lest  these  ruffians 
should,  by  their  brutal  treatment  of  me,  drive  me  to  distraction.  They 
simply  challenge  my  contempt. 

All  we  in  Chicago  ask  of  our  comrades  abroad  is  to  withhold  their 
opinion  until  they  hear  our  side,  and  to  furnish  us  such  moral  and 
financial  aid  as  they  can. 

Lucy  E,  Parsons. 

Chicago,  May  10,  1886. 


PARSONS’  HAYMARKET  SPEECH. 


His  Speech  of  May  4,  as  Redelivered  in  the  Court-Room,  Be¬ 
fore  the  Judge,  Jury,  and  Spectators,  August  9,  1886,  and 
Which  the  Chicago  “Times”  Declared  to  Be  the  Finest 
Speech  of  His  Life,  Going  “From  Eloquence  to  Oratory, 
from  Oratory  to  Logic,  and  from  Logic  to  Argument.” 

On  July  9,  1886,  Mr.  Parsons  took  the  witness-stand  in  his  own 
defense  and  this  is  the  occasion  of  his  having  given  the  speech  which 
follows.  The  Times  said  of  this  speech : 

The  climax  in  the  Anarchist  trial  was  reached  yesterday.  Schwab,  Spies 
and  Parsons  told  their  respective  stories  to  the  jury  from  the  witness-chair, 
to  a  spell-bound  audience  of  spectators,  an  amazed  jury,  and  a  surprised 
Judge.  *  *  *  Parsons  was  composed  and  eloquent.  *  *  *  His  brother, 
Gen.  W.  H.  Parsons,  sat  with  eyes  fixed  upon  him  during  the  time  he  was 
upon  the  stand.  As  soon  as  Mr.  August  Spies  retired  Mr.  Parsons  took  the 
stand,  and  in  a  quiet,  deferential  tone  answered  the  questions  put  to  him  in  a 
firm  voice,  not  appearing  to  be  in  the  least  unnerved  by  his  peculiar  position. 
At  length  he  was  asked  to  give  the  substance  of  his  Haymarket  speech,  and 
he  did  so,  and  if  the  jury,  the  Court  and  the  audience  have  been  entertained 
since  the  trial  began  they  were  entertained  by  the  chief  agitator  of  the  Chicago 
Anarchists.  He  pulled  out  of  his  pocket  a  bundle  of  notes,  and  began  at  the 
jury  in  tones  which  betokened  that  the  speaker  was  primed  for  the  finest 
speech  of  his  life.  He  held  his  notes  in  his  left  hand,  and,  together  with  the 
swaying  of  his  body,  gesticulating  with  his  right  arm.  From  low,,  measured 
tones  he  went  on  from  eloquence  to  oratory,  from  oratory  to  logic,  and  from 
logic  to  argument.” 

Capt.  Black:  “Now,  Mr.  Parsons,  going  back  to  the  meeting, 
retracing  our  steps  for  a  moment — will  you  tell  us,  please,  what  was 
the  substance  of  your  speech  that  night,  as  fully  as  you  can  remem¬ 
ber  ?” 

“I  have  taken  some  notes  of  reference  since  then  to  refresh  my 


116 


A.  R.  parsons'  haymarket  SPEECH.  1 17 

memory.  I  recollect  distinctly  of  mentioning  all  of  these  points,  but 
I  could  not  recall  them  seriatim  unless  I  put  them  on  paper,  and  that 
is  the  reason  I  have  done  so. 

“When  I  was  introduced  I  looked  at  the  crowd  and  observed 
that  it  was  quite  a  large  crowd.  I  am  'familiar  with  public  speak¬ 
ing  and  with  crowds,  and  I  should  estimate  there  were  3,000  men 
present,  and  I  consider  myself  a  judge  of  such  matters.  The  street 
was  packed  from  sidewalk  to  sidewalk,  north  and  south  of  the 
wagon,  but  especially  south  of  the  wagon,  for  a  considerable  dis¬ 
tance.  I  faced  the  south.  I  first  called  the  attention  of  those 
present  to  the  evidences  of  discontent  among  the  working  classes, 
not  alone  of  Chicago,  not  alone  of  the  United  States,  but  of  the 
civilized  world,  and  I  asked  the  question,  if  these  evidences  of  dis¬ 
content,  as  could  be  seen  in  strikes  and  lock-outs  and  boycotts,  were 
not  indications  that  there  was  something  radically  wrong  in  the 
existing  order  of  things  in  our  social  affairs.  I  then  alluded  to  the 
eight-hour  movement,  and  spoke  of  it  as  a  movement  designed  to 
give  employment  to  the  unemployed,  work  to  the  idle,  and  thereby 
bring  comfort  and  cheer  to  the  homes  of  the  destitute,  and  relieving 
the.  unrelieved  and  wearisome  toil  of  those  who  worked  not  alone 
ten  hours,  but  twelve,  fourteen,  and  sixteen  hours  a  day.  I  said 
that  the  eight-hour  movement  was  in  the  interests  of  civilization,  of 
prosperity,  of  the  public  welfare,  and  that  it  was  demanded  by 
every  interest  in  the  community,  and  that  I  was  glad  to  see  them 
assembled  on  that  occasion  to  give  their  voice  in  favor  of  the  adop¬ 
tion  of  the  eight-hour  work-day.  I  then  referred  again  to  the  gen¬ 
eral  condition  of  labor  throughout  the  country.  I  spoke  of  some  of 
my  travels  through  the  States  of  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio,  where  I 
had  met  and  addressed  thousands  and  thousands  of  workingmen. 
I  told  of  the  Tuscarora  valley,  and  of  the  Hocking  valley,  and  of 
the  Monongahela  valley — among  the  miners  of  this  country,  where 
wages  averaged  24J  cents  a  day.  I  showed,  of  course,  these  were 
not  wages  they  received  while  at  work,  but  that  the  difficulty  was 
they  did  not  get  the  days’  work,  and  consequently  they  had  to 
sum  up  the  total  and  divide  it.  Throughout  the  year  it  amounted 
to  24J  cents  a  day.  I  asked  if  this  was  not  a  condition  of  affairs 
calculated  to  arouse  the  discontent  of  the  people,  and  to  make  them 


Il8  A.  r.  parsons"  haymarket  speech. 

clamor  for  redress  and  relief.  I  pointed  to  the  fact  that  in  the  city 
of  Pittsburg  a  report  was  made  by,  I  think,  the  Superintendent  of 
Police  of  that  city,  stating  that  at  the  Bethel  home,  a  charitable 
institution  in  that  city,  from  January  i,  1884,  to  January  1,  1885, 
there  were  26,374  destitute  men — tramps,  American  sovereigns — 
who  applied  for  a  night’s  lodging  and  a  morsel  of  food  at  one  estab¬ 
lishment  alone  in  the  city  of  Pittsburg.  I  referred,  of  course,  to 
many  other  places  and  similar  things,  showing  the  general  con¬ 
dition  of  labor  in  the  country.  I  then  spoke  of  the  eight-hour 
movement — that  it  was  designed  to  bring  relief  to  these  men  and  to 
the  country.  I  thought  surely  there  was  nothing  in  it  to  excite  such 
hostility  on  the  part  of  employers  and  on  the  part  of  monopoly  and 
corporations  against  it  as  was  witnessed  in  different  parts  of  the 
country.  I  referred  to  the  refusal  of  the  corporations  and  monopo¬ 
lists  to  grant  and  concede  this  modest  request  of  the  working 
class,  and  their  attempts  to  defeat  it.  I  then  referred  to  the  fact 
that,  in  the  face  of  all  these  causes  producing  these  effects,  the  mo¬ 
nopolistic  newspapers,  in  the  interests  of  corporations,  blamed  such 
men  as  I — blamed  the  so-called  agitators,  blamed  the  workingmen 
— for  these  evidences  of  discontent,  this  turmoil  and  confusion  and 
so-called  disorder.  I  called  the  attention  of  the  crowd  specifically 
to  that  fact — that  we  were  being  blamed  for  this  thing,  when,  on 
the  contrary,  it  was  evident  to  any  fair-minded  man  that  we  were 
simply  calling  the  attention  of  the  people  to  this  condition  of  things 
and  seeking  a  redress  for  it.  I  impressed  that  upon  the  crowd 
specifically,  and  I  remember  that  in  response  to  that  several  gentle¬ 
men  spoke  up  loudly  and  said:  AVell,  we  need  a  good  many  just 
such  men  as  you  to  right  these  wrongs  and  to  arouse  the  people/ 

“I  spoke  of  the  compulsory  idleness  and  starvation  wages,  and 
how  these  things  drove  the  workingmen  to  desperation — drove  them 
to  commit  acts  for  which  they  ought  not  to  be  held  responsible ; 
that  they  were  the  creatures  of  circumstances,  and  that  this  con¬ 
dition  of  things  was  the  fault,  not  of  the  workingmen,  but  of  those 
who  claimed  the  right  to  control  and  regulate  the  rights  of  the 
workingmen.  I  pointed  out  the  fact  that  monopoly,  in  its  course 
in  grinding  down  labor  in  this  country  and  in  refusing  to  concede 
anything  to  it — refusing  to  make  any  concessions  whatever — that 


A.  R.  PARSONS*  HAYMARICET  SPEECH.  119 

in  persisting  in  such  course  it  was  creating  revolutionists,  and  if 
there  was  a  single  revolutionist  in  America  monopoly  and  corpora¬ 
tions  were  directly  responsible  for  his  existence.  I  specifically 
called  attention  to  this  fact,  in  order  to  defend  myself  from  the 
charges  constantly  being  made  through  the  mouthpiece  of  monop¬ 
oly — the  capitalistic  press.  I  called  attention  in  this  connection  to 
the  Chicago  Times  and  other  newspapers.  I  called  the  attention 
of  the  working  people  that  night  to  the  strike  of  1877,  when  the 
Chicago  Times  declared  that  hand-grenades  ought  to  be  thrown 
among  the  striking  sailors,  who  were  then  on  a  strike  on  the  river 
wharves  in  this  city,  in  order  to  teach  them  a  lesson  and  that  other 
strikers  might  be  warned  by  their  fate.  I  said  that  the  Chicago 
Times  was  the  first  dynamiter  in  America,  and  as  the  mouth-piece 
of  monopoly  and  corporations  it  was  the  first  to  advocate  the  kill¬ 
ing  of  people  when  they  protested  against  wrong  and  oppression.  T 
spoke  of  another  Chicago  paper  which  at  that  day  advocated  that 
when  bread  was  given  to  the  poor  strychnine  should  be  placed  on 
it.  I  also  called  attention  to  Frank  Leslie's  Illustrated  Paper ,  which 
declared  in  an  editorial  that  the  American  toiler  must  be  driven  to 
his  task  either  by  the  slave-driver’s  lash  or  the  immediate  prospect 
of  want.  I  spoke  of  the  New  York  Herald ,  and  its  saying  that  lead 
should  be  given  to  any  tramp  who  should  come  around.  Whenever 
a  workingman,  thrown  out  of  employment  and  forced  to  wander 
from  place  to  place  in  search  of  work,  away  from  family  and  home, 
asked  for  a  crust  of  bread,  the  New  York  Herald  advised  those  to 
whom  he  applied  to  fill  him  with  lead  instead  of  bread.  I  called 
attention  to  what  Tom  Scott,  the  railway  monopolist,  said  during 
the  strike  of  1877:  ‘Give  them  the  rifle  diet,  and  see  how  they 
like  that  kind  of  diet.’  I  referred  to  Jay  Gould,  when  he  said  we 
would  shortly  have  a  monarchy  in  this  country,  and  to  a  similar 
statement  in  the  Indianapolis  Journal.  Then  I  referred  to  how  mo¬ 
nopoly  was  putting  these  threats  into  practice.  They  not  only  used 
these  threats,  but  they  put  them  into  practice,  and  I  cited  East  St. 
Louis,  where  Jay  Gould  called  for  men  and  paid  them  $5  a  day  for 
firing  upon  harmless,  innocent,  unarmed  workingmen,  killing  nine 
of  them  and  one  woman  in  cold-blooded  murder.  I  referred  to  the 
Saginaw  valley,  where  the  militia  was  used  to  put  down  strikes.  I 


120 


A.  R.  parsons'  haymarket  speech. 


referred  to  Lemont,  Ill.,  where  defenceless  and  innocent  citizens 
and  their  town  were  invaded  by  the  militia  of  the  State  of  Illinois, 
and  without  any  pretext,  men,  women,  and  children  were  fired  upon 
and  slaughtered  in  cold  blood.  I  referred  to  the  McCormick  strike 
on  the  previous  day,  and  denounced  the  action  of  the  police  on  that 
occasion  as  an  outrage.  I  asked  the  workingmen  if  these  were  not 
facts,  and  if  monopolies  and  corporations  were  not  responsible  for 
them,  and  if  they  were  not  driving  the  people  into  this  condition  of 
things.  And  then  I  used  some  words  or  some  phrase  in  connection 
with  the  use  of  the  military  and  the  police  and  the  Pinkerton  thugs 
to  shoot  down  workingmen,  to  drive  them  back  into  submission  and 
starvation  wages.  I  then  referred  to  a  Chicago  paper  of  the  day 
before,  to  which  my  attention  had  been  called  on  Tuesday  after¬ 
noon.  In  an  editorial  it  asserted  that  Parsons  and  Spies  incited 
trouble  at  McCormick’s,  and  ought  to  be  lynched  and  driven  out  of 
the  city.  I  was  away  at  Cincinnati  at  the  time.  I  called  attention 
to  the  fact  that  the  newspapers  were  wickedly  exciting  the  people 
against  the  workingmen.  I  denied  the  newspaper  charge  that  we 
were  sneaks  and  cowards,  and  defied  them  to  run  us  out  of  the  city. 
I  pointed  to  the  fact  that  the  capitalistic  papers  were  subsidized 
agents  and  organs  of  monopoly,  and  that  they  held  stocks  and 
bonds  in  corporations  and  railroads,  and  that  no  man  could  be 
elected  an  Alderman  of  this  city  unless  he  had  the  sanction  of  some 
of  the  corporations  and  monopolists  of  this  city.  Then  I  said:  ‘I 
am  not  here,  fellow-workmen,  for  the  purpose  of  inciting  anybody, 
but  to  tell  the  truth,  and  to  state  the  facts  as  they  actually  exist, 
though  it  should  cost  me  my  life  in  doing  it.’  I  then  referred  to  the 
Cincinnati  demonstration,  at  which  I  was  present  the  Sunday  pre¬ 
vious.  I  said  that  the  organization  of  workingmen  in  that  city — the 
trades  unions  and  other  organizations — had  a  grand  street  parade 
and  picnic.  They  sent  for  me  to  go  down  there  and  address  them.  It 
was  an  eight-hour  demonstration.  I  attended  on  that  occasion  and 
spoke  to  them.  I  referred  to  the  fact  that  they  turned  out  in  thou¬ 
sands  and  that  they  marched  with  Winchester  rifles,  two  or  three 
companies  of  them.  I  supposed  there  were  about  two  hundred 
men  at  the  head  of  the  column,  the  Cincinnati  Rifle  Union.  I  said 
that  at  the  head  of  the  procession  they  bore  the  red  flag — the  red 


A.  R.  PARSON S>  HAYMARKET  SPEECH. 


121 


flag  of  liberty,  fraternity,  equality,  and  labor  all  over  the  world — 
the  red  flag,  the  emancipator  of  labor.  I  pointed  out  that  every 
other  flag  repudiated  the  workingman,  outlawed  the  workingman, 
and  that  he  had  no  shield  and  no  flag  but  the  red  one.  I  then  re¬ 
ferred  to  our  country,  and  to  men  saying  this  was  a  movement  of 
foreigners,  and  so  on.  I  pointed  out  the  fact  that  the  desire  for 
right  and  the  thirst  for  liberty  and  for  justice  was  not  a  foreign 
affair  at  all;  it  was  one  which  concerned  Americans  as  well  as  for¬ 
eigners,  and  that  patriotism  was  a  humbug  in  this  connection ;  that 
it  was  useless  to  separate  the  people,  to  divide  them,  and  to  antagon¬ 
ize  them  against  each  other;  that  the  Irish  were  separated  and 
their  national  feeling  was  kept  alive  as  against  an  Englishman  in 
order  that  the  exploiters  and  depredators  upon  them  might  more 
easily  make  them  victims  and  use  them  as  their  tools.  I  referred 
in  that  connection  to  land  monopoly  and  showed  how  the  farms  of 
this  country  were  being  driven  into  land  tenures  like  those  of 
Europe.  I  called  attention  to  an  article  which  appeared  in  the 
North  American  Review  last  December,  which  I  think  was  by  an 
American  statistician  of  this  country,  in  which  it  was  stated  that 
over  $350,000,000  in  mortgages  were  held  upon  farms  west  of  the 
Alleghanies.  I  stated  that  over  50  per  cent.,  perhaps  two-thirds, 
of  the  farms  in  the  States  of  Illinois,  Wisconsin,  and  Michigan  were 
under  mortgage,  and  that  monopoly  was  making  it  impossible  for 
the  toilers  to  pay  for  these  farms,  and  that  they  were  breaking  them 
up,  forcing  them  to  become  tenants,  and  instituting  the  European 
system  in  this  country.  I  said  I  did  not  regard  that  as  a  question 
of  patriotism,  nor  a  foreign  question,  but  an  American  question 
concerning  Americans.  I  referred  to  the  banking  monopoly  of  the 
country,  by  which  a  few  men  are  empowered  to  make  money  scarce 
in  order  that  they  may  control  the  markets,  run  corners  on  the  differ¬ 
ent  mediums  of  exchange,  and  produce  a  panic  in  the  country  by 
making  money  scarce.  They  made  the  price  of  articles  dear,  threw 
labor  out  of  employment,  and  brought  on  bankruptcy.  I  said  that 
monopoly  owned  labor  and  employed  its  armed  hirelings  to  sub¬ 
jugate  the  people.  ‘In  the  light  of  these  facts  and  of  your  inalien¬ 
able  right  to  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness,’  I  said,  ‘it 
behooves  you,  as  you  love  your  wives  and  children,  if  you  would 


122  A.  R.  PARSONS*  HAYMARKET  SPEECH. 

not  see  them  perish  with  want  and  hunger,  yourselves  killed  or  cut 
down  like  dogs  in  the  streets — Americans,  as  you  love  liberty  and 
independence,  arm !  arm  yourselves !’  A  voice  then  said  to  me, 
‘We  are  ready  now/  I  did  not  understand  exactly  what  the  gentle¬ 
man  said,  but  I  made  that  reply,  as  has  been  testified  to  by  many 
here.  I  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States  gave  to  every  man  the  right  to  keep  and  bear  arms, 
but  monopoly  was  seeking  to  deprive  the  citizen  of  that  right.  1 
called  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  constitution  guaranteed  us  the 
right  of  free  speech,  of  free  press,  and  of  unmolested  assembly,  but 
that  corporations  and  monopoly,  by  paid-for  decisions  of  Courts, 
had  trampled  these  rights  under  foot,  or  were  attempting  to  do  so. 
I  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  was  in  the  hands  of  the  money  power,  and  that  from  this 
fact — the  sway  of  this  money  power — it  was  almost  impossible  for 
a  poor  man  to  get  justice  in  a  court  of  law ;  that  law  was  for  sale, 
just  like  bread;  if  you  had  no  money  you  could  get  no  bread,  and 
without  money  you  could  get  no  justice;  that  justice  was  almost 
beyond  the  reach  of  the  poor,  and  that  the  poor  were  made  poor 
and  kept  poor  by  the  grinding  processes  of  the  corporations 
and  monopolies.  I  then  called  attention  to  Socialism,  and  ex¬ 
plained  what  it  was.  I  gave  them  Webster’s  definition  of  it — that 
it  meant  a  more  equitable  arrangement  of  society,  a  more  just  and 
equitable  arrangement  of  social  affairs ;  that  there  was  nothing  in 
the  word  or  in  the  purposes  of  Socialism  for  anybody  to  become 
alarmed  at.  On  the  contrary,  it  should  be  hailed  with  delight  by 
all,  as  it  was  designed  to  make  all  happy  and  prosperous.  I  then 
spoke  in  this  connection  of  the  wage  system  of  industry,  and  showed 
that  the  wage  system  of  industry  was  a  despotism,  inherently  and 
necessarily  so,  because  under  it  the  wage-worker  is  forced  and  com¬ 
pelled  to  work  on  such  conditions  and  at  such  terms  as  the  em¬ 
ployers  of  labor  may  see  fit  to  dictate  to  him.  This  I  defined  to  be 
slavery,  hence  I  said  they  were  wage-slaves,  and  that  the  wage 
system  was  what  Socialism  proposed  to  displace.  I  then  showed 
the  power  that  the  wage  system  gave  to  the  employing  class  by  the 
lock-out,  the  black-list,  and  the  discharge ;  that  I  myself  had  been 
black-listed  because  I  exercised  my  right  of  free  speech  as  an  Ameri- 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  HAYMARKET  SPEECH. 


123 


can,  because  I  saw  fit  to  be  a  member  of  a  labor  organization ; 
that  I  had  been  deprived  repeatedly  of  my  bread  for  that  reason  by 
my  employer.  I  then  called  attention  to  the  United  States  census 
for  the  year  1880,  and  I  showed  that  the  returns  made  there — 
statistically  gotten  up  by  a  Republican  administration — these  returns 
showed  that  85  cents  from  every  dollar  produced  went  to 
the  profit-taking  classes,  and  that  15  cents  was  the  average  sum 
received  by  the  producing  class  for  having  produced  the  whole  dol¬ 
lar.  I  said  that  this  was  wrong,  and  that  in  the  fact  of  such  a  con¬ 
dition  of  things  we  could  expect  noting  but  poverty,  destitution, 
want,  and  misery.  I  showed  how,  under  this  system,  the  work¬ 
ingmen  of  the  United  States  were  really  doing  ten  hours’  work  for 
two  hours’  pay;  that  the  employers  say  to  the  men:  ‘You  want 
to  work  only  eight  hours.  Do  you  mean  to  say  that  we  must  give 
you  ten  hours’  pay  for  eight  hours’  work?’  I  said:  ‘Gentlemen, 
fellow-workmen,  let  us  answer  these  men  and  say,  and  prove  to 
them  by  the  official  statistics  of  the  United  States  census,  that  we 
are  receiving  now  but  two  hours’  pay  for  ten  hours’  work;  that 
that  is  what  the  wages  of  the  country  on  the  average  represent.’  I 
spoke  of  corporations  crowding  the  workingmen  to  the  wall,  and 
summed  it  up  in  some  such  words  as  these:  ‘Now,  for  years  past 
the  Associated  Press,  manipulated  by  Jay  Gould  and  other  traitors 
to  the  Republic,  and  their  infamous  minions,  have  been  sowing  the 
seeds  of  revolution.’  These  seeds,  I  thought,  could  be  summarized 
about  as  follows : 

“To  deprive  labor  of  the  ballot. 

“To  substitute  a  Monarchy  for  the  Republic. 

“To  rob  labor  and  then  make  poverty  a  crime. 

“To  deprive  small  farmers  of  their  land,  and  then  convert  them 
into  serfs  to  serve  a  huge  landlordism. 

“To  teach  labor  that  bread  and  water  are  all  that  it  needs. 

“To  throw  bombs  into  crowds  of  workingmen  who  were  opposed 
to  laboring  for  starvation  wages. 

“To  take  the  ballot  by  force  of  arms  from  the  majority  when  it 
is  used  against  the  interests  of  corporations  and  capital. 

“To  put  strychnine  upon  the  bread  of  the  poor. 


124 


A.  R.  parsons'  haymarket  speech. 


“To  hang  workingmen  by  mobs  in  the  absence  of  testimony  to 
legally  convict  them. 

“To  drive  the  poor  working  classes  into  open  mutiny  against 
the  laws,  in  Order  to  secure  their  conviction  and  punishment  after¬ 
ward. 

“These  threats  and  diabolical  teachings,  I  said,  had  been  openly 
and  boldly  uttered  by  the  great  conspiracy — the  solid  Associated 
Press  and  monopolies  of  this  country — for  years,  against  the  liber¬ 
ties  of  the  poor,  and  the  workingman  of  America  was  as  sensitive 
to  the  wrongs  imposed  upon  him  as  would  be  the  possessor  of  mil¬ 
lions.  I  said  that  this  was  the  seed  from  which  had  sprung  the. 
labor  movement,  and  it  was  as  natural  as  cause  and  effect.  The 
workingmen  present  appeared  to  be  very  much  interested.  I  never 
saw  a  more  quiet,  orderly,  interested  gathering  of  men — and  I  have 
spoken  to  a  great  many  in  my  life-— than  was  present  on  that  occa¬ 
sion. 

“I  called  their  attention  to  the  fact  that  labor  paid  for  every¬ 
thing — paid  all  the  expenses  of  Government,  of  the  police,  of  the 
armies,  of  legislators,  of  Congressmen,  of  Judges — paid  everything. 
Labor  paid  it  all.  That  I,  as  a  tenant — I  used  my  own  case  as  an 
illustration — says  I :  ‘Now,  the  landlord  claims  that  he  pays  the 
taxes.  What  are  the  facts?  When  I  pay  him  my  rent  I  in  fact 
pay  the  taxes.  He  claims  that  he  makes  all  the  repairs  on  the 
house,  and  paints  it  up,  and  does  such  things.  He  does  not  do 
anything  of  the  kind.  Hie  is  simply  my  agent  to  look  after  these 
things,  and  I,  as  his  tenant,  pay  for  it  all.  So  it  is  with  all  tenants.’ 
I  said  that  labor  bears  all  the  burdens  but  derives  few  of  the  bene¬ 
fits  of  our  present  civilization.  I  referred  to  the  fact  that  it  was 
through  these  methods  that  the  working  people,  who  produced  all 
the  wealth,  were  kept  poor,  and  being  poor  they  were  ignorant;  that 
our  school  teachers  had  yet  to  learn  the  fact  that  the  great  need  of 
the  people  was  more  material  force  before  it  would  be  possible  for 
them  to  become  amenable  to  the  influences  of  educational  forces ; 
that  ignorance  was  the  result  of  poverty ;  that  intemperance  was 
the  result  of  poverty,  and  for  every  man  who  was  poor  because  he 
drank  I  could  show  twenty  men  who  drank  because  they  were  poor. 
I  said  that  this  pQverty,  this  discord,  this  commotion  in  the  civil- 


A.  R.  parsons'  haymarket  speech. 


125 


ized  world  was  because  of  the  disease,  the  cramming  of  people  away 
into  hovels  and  dens  unfit  for  animals  to  live  in ;  it  was  the  cause 
of  the  death  of  the  young,  of  old  age  coming  upon  middle  age ;  that 
it  was  the  cause  of  crime ;  that  poverty  was  at  the  root  and  bottom 
of  war,  of  discord,  and  of  strife,  and  that  this  poverty  was  an  artifi¬ 
cial,  unnatural  poverty  which  Socialism  proposed  to  remedy. 

‘‘I  was  at  this  time,  as  you  understand,  gentlemen,  making  a 
speech  for  Socialism.  I  had  been  talking  especially  for  Socialism. 
I  then  spoke  as  a  Trades-Unionist.  I  am  a  member  of  the  Printers’ 
Union  and  of  the  Knights  of  Labor.  I  said  that  these  organizations 
differed  somewhat  with  Socialism  in  that  they  hoped  to  receive 
and  obtain  redress  within  the  present  system,  but  that  was  not  pos¬ 
sible,  in  my  belief ;  that  a  study  of  social  affairs  and  of  historical 
development  had  taught  me  that  the  system  itself  was  at  fault,  and 
that  as  long  as  the  cause  remained  the  effects  would  be  felt;  that 
every  trades  union,  every  assembly  of  the  Knights  of  Labor,  every 
organization  of  workingmen  had  for  its  ultimate  end — let  its  course 
be  what  it  might — the  emancipation  of  labor  from  economic  de¬ 
pendence,  land,  whether  they  sought  it  or  not,  events  and  the  develop¬ 
ments  of  this  existing  wage  system  would  of  necessity  force  or  drive 
these  men  into  Socialism  as  the  only  saver,  and  the  only  means  bv 
which  they  could  live — that  they  could  exist  in  the  end  in  no  other 
way.  If  I  remember  rightly  I  then  said  that  strikes  were  attempts 
to  right  these  wrongs  on  the  part  of  the  unions  and  the  Knights  of 
Labor ;  that  I  did  not  believe  in  strikes ;  I  did  not  believe  that  re¬ 
dress  could  be  had  by  that  method ;  that  the  power  was  in  the 
hands  of  the  employer  to  refuse  ;  that  if  the  men  went  on  a  strike 
the  employer  could  meet  the  strike  with  a  lock-out,  and  could  keep 
them  out  until  they  were  so  hungry  that  they  would  through  their 
destitution  be  compelled  to  return  and  accept  the  terms  of  the  em¬ 
ployer  ;  therefore,  strikes  must  of  necessity  fail — as  a  general  thing. 
I  called  attention  to  the  ‘scabs,’  and  said  that  the  Unionist  made 
war  on  the  scabs.  ‘Now,’  says  I,  ‘here  is  the  distinction  between 
a  Socialist  and  a  Trade-Unionist.  The  Unionist  fights  the  scab. 
What  is  a  scab?  As  a  general  thing,  a  man  who,  being  out  of  em¬ 
ployment  and  destitute,  is  driven  by  necessity  to  go  to  work  in  some 
other  man’s  place  at  less  wages  than  has  previously  been  paid.  He 


126 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  HAYMARKET  SPEECH. 


is  at  once  denounced  as  a  scab  by  the  Unionist,  and  war  is  made 
upon  him.  Now,  Socialists  don’t  do>  this ;  they  regard  these  men 
as  the  victims  of  a  false  system  and  to  be  pitied.  The  scabs  might 
be  compared  to  fleas  on  a  dog.  The  Unionist  wants  to  kill  the  fleas, 
but  the  Socialists  would  kill  the  dog ;  that  dog  is  the  wage-system  of 
slavery. 

“I  then  pointed  to  the  ballot — how  we  were  swindled  at  the 
ballot-box  and  defrauded  and  cheated,  how  we  were  bulldozed  and 
intimidated  and  bribed  and  corrupted — yes,  corrupted  by  the  very 
money  that  had  been  stolen  from  us.  Men  would  come  to  us  when 
we  were  poor  and  give  us  bread  money  if  we  would  vote  their  ticket, 
and  we  often  did  it  through  necessity;  and  for  these  and  other 
reasons,  through  this  intimidation,  bribery,  and  corruption,  the 
workingmen  had  but  little  to  expect  from  the  ballot.  I  said  we  had 
petitioned  and  passed  resolutions,  and  had  done  everything  in  our 
power  for  redress,  but  there  had  been  no  relief  and  no  redress  ;  in 
fact,  there  was  a  rebuff  on  every  occasion.  I  then  said  to'  them : 
‘Gentlemen,  Socialism  means  the  free  association  of  the  people  for 
the  purposes  of  production  and  consumption — in  other  words,  uni¬ 
versal  co-operation.  This  is  the  sum  total  of  Socialism,  and  the 
only  solution  of  the  present  difficulties  between  capital  and  labor.’ 
I  said  that  monopoly  and  corporation  had  formed  a  gigantic  con¬ 
spiracy  against  the  working  classes. 

“I  then  called  upon  them  to  unite,  to  organize,  to  make  every 
endeavor  to  obtain  eight  hours ;  that  the  eight-hour  movement  meant 
a  peaceful  solution  of  the  labor  trouble ;  that  if  the  employers  in  this 
and  all  other  countries  would  concede  this  demand  it  meant  peace, 
if  they  refused  it  meant  war,  not  by  the  working  classes,  not  by 
laborers,  but  by  monopolists  and  corporations  upon  the  lives,  liberty 
and  happiness  of  the  working  classes.  I  said  that  the  Government, 
in  the  hands  of  corporations  and  monopoly,  deprived  the  laborers 
of  their  labor  product,  of  their  right  to  live,  and  was  driving 
labor  into  open  revolt  and  forcing  people  to  defend  themselves  and 
to  protect  and  maintain  their  right  to  self-preservation.  I  said  the 
monopoly  conspiracy  originated  in  the  great  railroad  strike  of 
1877;  that  this  conspiracy  since  that  time  had  proposed  to  use  force, 
and  that  they  had  used  force.  Vanderbilt  said:  ‘The  public  be 


A.  R.  parsons'  haymarket  speech. 


127 


damned.'  The  New  York  World  and  other  papers  had  said  that 
the  American  must  be  contented  with  the  wages  he  received,  and 
not  expect  any  more  wages  than  his  European  brother,  and  be  con¬ 
tented  with  that  station  in  life  to  which  it  had  pleased  God  to  call 
him.  I  then  appealed  to  them  to  defend  themselves,  their  rights, 
and  their  liberties — to  combine,  to  unite,  for  in  union  there  was 
strength.  That,  gentlemen,  was  the  substance  of  my  hour’s  speech 
at  the  Haymarket.” 


CHAPTER  III. 


yo 

ALBERT  R.  PARSONS’  SPEECH  IN  COURT. 

The  Verdict  Was  a  Verdict  of  Passion — The  Chicago  Citizens’ 
Association  Demanded  Our  Extinction  by  an  Ignominious 
Death — The  Wage  System,  Its  Fruition  or  Birth — Held  in 
Loathsome  Contempt  Without  a  Chance  to  Contradict  a 
Word — “The  Alarm”  a  Free  Press  and  Free  Speech  Paper — 
A  Street  Riot  Drill  on  Thanksgiving  Day — The  Stars  and 
Stripes  in  Former  Days  Floated  on  Every  Water  as  the 
Emblem  of  the  Free — Can  a  Man  Vote  Himself  Bread,  or 
Cloth,  or  Shelter? — Gunpowder  the  Inauguration  of  a 
New  Era — D'ynamite  Comes  as  the  Emancipator  of  Man — 
For  My  Surrender  I  Have  No  Regrets  to  Offer. 

FREEDOM. 

/ 

Toil  and  pray!  Thy  world  cries  cold; 

Speed  thy  prayer,  for  time  is  gold ; 

At  thy  door  Need’s  subtle  tread; 

Pray  in  haste !  for  time  is  bread. 

And  thou  plow’st  and  thou  hew’st, 

And  thou  rivet’st  and  sewest, 

And  thou  harvestest  in  vain ; 

Speak!  O,  man;  what  is  thy  gain? 

i 

Fly’st  the  shuttle  day  and  night, 

Heav’st  the  ores  of  earth  to  light, 

Fill’st  with  treasures  plenty’s  horn — 

Brim’st  it  o’er  with  wine  and  corn. 

But  who  hath  thy  meal  prepared, 

Festive  garments  with  thee  shared; 

And  where  is  thy  cheerful  hearth, 

Thy  good  shield  in  battle  dearth? 


128 


/ 


Whittled  from  a  solid  piece  of  wood  with  a  pen-knife  by  Albert  R.  Parsons  while  in  prison. 


Albert  R.  Parsons  in  disguise  in  Waukesha,  Wis. 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  SPEECH  IN  COURT. 


129 


Thy  creations  round  thee  see — 

All  thy  work,  but  naught  for  thee ! 

Yea,  of  all  the  chains  alone 

Thy  hand  forged,  these  are  thine  own. 

Chains  that  round  the  body  cling. 

Chains  that  lame  the  spirit’s  wing, 

Chains  that  infants’  feet,  indeed, 

Clog !  O,  workman !  Lo !  Thy  meed. 

What  ye  rear  and  bring  to  light, 

Profits  by  the  idle  wight, 

What  ye  weave  of  diverse  hue, 

‘Tis  a  curse — your  only  due. 

What  ye  build,  no  room  insures, 

Not  a  sheltering  roof  to  yours, 

And  by  haughty  ones  are  trod — 

Ye,  who  toil  their  feet  hath  shod. 

Human  bees !  Has  nature’s  thrift 
Given  thee  naught  but  honey’s  gift? 

See !  the  drones  are  on  the  wing. 

Have  you  lost  the  will  to  sting? 

Man  of  labor,  up,  arise! 

Know  the  might  that  in  thee  lies, 

Wheel  and  shaft  are  set  at  rest 
At  thy  powerful  arm’s  behest. 

Thine  oppressor’s  hand  recoils 
When  thou,  weary  of  thy  toils, 

Shun’st  thy  plough ;  thy  task  begun 
When  thou  speak’st :  Enough  is  done  ! 

Break  this  two-fold  yoke  in  twain; 

Break  thy  want’s  enslaving  chain ; 

Break  thy  slavery’s  want  and  dread ; 

Bread  is  freedom,  freedom  bread. 

That  poem  epitomizes  the  aspirations,  the  hope,  the  need  of  the  working 
classes,  not  alone  of  America,  but  of  the  civilized  world. 


130 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  SPEECH  IN  COURT. 


Your  Honor: 

If  there  is  one  distinguishing  characteristic  which  has  made 
itself  prominent  in  the  conduct  of  this  trial  it  has  been  the  passion, 
the  heat,  and  the  anger,  the  violence  both  to  sentiment  and  to 
person,  of  everything  connected  with  this  case.  You  ask  me  why 
sentence  of  death  should  not  be  pronounced  upon  me,  or,  what  is 
tantamount  to  the  same  thing,  you  ask  me  why  you  should  give 
me  a  new  trial  in  order  that  I  might  establish  my  innocence  and 
the  ends  of  justice  be  subserved.  I  answer  you  and  say  that  this 
verdict  is  the  verdict  of  passion,  born  in  passion,  nurtured  in  passion, 
and  is  the  sum  total  of  the  organized  passion  of  the  city  of  Chi¬ 
cago.  For  this  reason  I  ask  your  suspension  of  the  sentence,  and  a 
new  trial.  This  is  one  among  the  many  reasons  which  I  hope  to 
present  before  I  conclude.  Now,  what  is  passion?  Passion  is  the 
suspension  of  reason;  in  a  mob  upon  the  streets,  in  the  broils  of 
the  saloon,  in  the  quarrels  on  the  sidewalk,  where  men  throw  aside 
their  reason  and  resort  to  feelings  of  exasperation,  we  have  passion. 
There  is  a  suspension  of  the  elements  of  judgment,  of  calmness,  of 
discriminaton  requisite  to  arrive  at  the  truth  and  the  establishment 
of  justice.  I  hold  that  you  cannot  dispute  the  charge  which  I  make, 
that  this  trial  has  been  submerged,  immersed  in  passion  from  its 
inception  to  its  close,  and  even  to  this  hour,  standing  here  upon  the 
scaffold  as  I  do,  with  the  hangman  awaiting  me  with  his  halter, 
there  are  those  who  claim  to  represent  public  sentiment  in  this 
city — and  I  now  speak  of  the  capitalistic  press,  that  vile  and  in¬ 
famous  organ  of  monopoly,  of  hired  liars,  the  people’s  oppressor — 
even  to  this  day  these  papers,  standing  where  I  do,  with  my  seven 
condemned  colleagues,  are  clamoring  for  our  blood  in  the  heat  and 
violence  of  passion.  Who  can  deny  this?  Certainly  not  this  Court. 
The  Court  is  fully  aware  of  these  facts. 

In  order  that  I  may  place  myself  properly  before  you,  it  is  neces¬ 
sary,  in  vindication  of  whatever  I  may  have  said  or  done  in  the 
history  of  my  past  life,  that  I  should  enter  somewhat  into  details, 
and  I  claim,  even  at  the  expense  of  being  lengthy,  the  ends  of 
justice  require  that  this  shall  be  done. 

For  the  past  twenty  years  my  life  has  been  closely  identified 
with,  and  I  have  actively  participated  in,  what  is  known  as  the 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  SPEECH  IN  COURT.  I3I 

labor  movement  in  America.  I  have  some  knowledge  of  that  move¬ 
ment  in  consequence  of  this  experience  and  of  the  careful  study 
which  opportunity  has  afforded  me  from  time  to  time  to  give  to  the 
matter,  and  in  what  I  have  to  say  upon  this  subject  relating  to  the 
labor  movement,  or  to  myself  as  connected  with  it  in  this  trial  and 
before  this  bar,  I  will  speak  the  truth,  the  whole  truth,  be  the  con¬ 
sequences  what  they  may. 

The  United  States  census  for  1880  reports  that  there  are  in  the 
United  States  16,200,000  wage-workers.  These  are  the  persons  who, 
by  their  industry,  create  all  the  wealth  of  this  country.  And  now 
before  I  say  anything  further  it  may  be  necessary,  in  order  to  clearly 
understand  what  I  am  going  to  state  further  on,  for  me  to  define 
what  I  mean  and  what  is  meant  in  the  labor  movement  by  these 
words,  wage-worker.  A  wage-worker  is  one  who  works  for  wages' 
and  who  has  no  other  means  of  subsistence  than  by  the  selling  of 
his  daily  toil  from  hour  to  hour,  day  to  day,  week  to  week,  month 
to  month,  and  year  to  year,  as  the  case .  may  be.  Their  whole 
property  consists  entirely  of  their  labor,  strength,  and  skill — or 
rather,  they  possess  nothing  but  their  empty  hands.  They  live  only 
when  afforded  an  opportunity  to  work,  and  this  opportunity  must  be 
procured  from  the  possessors  of  the  means  of  subsistence — capital — 
before  their  right  to  live  at  all  or  the  opportunity  to  do  so1  is  pos¬ 
sessed.  Now,  there  are  16,200,000  of  these  people  in  the  United 
States,  according  to  the  census  of  1880.  Among  this  number  are 
9,000,000  men,  and  reckoning  five  persons  to  each  family,  they  rep¬ 
resent  45,000,000  of  our  population.  It  is  claimed  that  there  are 
between  eleven  and  twelve  millions  of  voters  in  the  United  States. 
Now,  out  of  these  12,000,000,  9,000,000  of  these  voters  are  wage¬ 
workers.  The  remainder  of  the  16,200,000  is  composed  of  the  women, 
boys  and  girls — the  children — employed  in  the  factories,  the  mines, 
farms,  and  the  various  avocations  of  this  country.  The  class  of 
people — the  producing  class — who  alone  do  all  the  productive  labor 
of  this  country,  are  the  hirelings  and  dependents  of  the  propertied 
class. 

Your  honor,  I  have,  as  a  workingman,  espoused  what  I  con¬ 
ceive  to  be  the  just  claims  of  the  working  class;  I  have  defended 
their  right  to  liberty  and  insisted  upon  their  right  to  control  their 


1 32 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  SPEECH  IN  COURT. 


own  labor  and  the  fruits  thereof,  and  in  the  statement  that  I  am  to 
make  here  before  this  Court  upon  the  question  why  I  should  not  be 
sentenced,  or  why  I  should  be  permitted  to  have  a  new  trial,  you 
will  also  be  made  to  understand  why  there  is  a  class  of  men  in  this 
country  who  come  to  your  honor  and  appeal  to  you  not  to  grant  us 
a  new  trial.  I  believe,  sir,  that  the  representatives  of  that  million¬ 
aire  organization  of  Chicago,  known  as  the  Chicago  Citizens’  Asso¬ 
ciation,  stands  to  a  man  demanding  of  your  honor  our  immediate 
extinction  and  suppression  by  an  ignominious  death. 

Now,  I  stand  here  as  one  of  the  people,  a  common  man,  a 
workingman,  one  of  the  masses,  and  I  ask  you  to  give  ear  to  what 
I  have  to  say.  You  stand  as  a  bulwark;  you  are  as  a  brake  between 
them  and  us.  You  are  here  as  the  representative  of  justice,  hold¬ 
ing  the  poised  scales  in  your  hands.  You  are  expected  to  look 
neither  to  the  right  nor  to  the  left,  but  to  that  by  which  justice,  and 
justice  alone,  shall  be  subserved.  The  conviction  of  a  man,  your 
honor,  does  not  necessarily  prove  that  he  is  guilty.  Your  law  books 
are  filled  with  instances  where  men  have  been  carried  to  the  scaf¬ 
fold  and  after  their  death  it  has  been  proven  that  their  execution 
was  a  judicial  murder.  Now,  what  end  can  be  subserved  in  hurry¬ 
ing  this  matter  through  in  the  manner  in  which  it  has  been  done? 
Where  are  the  ends  of  justice  subserved,  and  where  is  truth  found 
in  hurrying  seven  human  beings  at  the  rate  of  express  speed  upon 
a  fast  train  to  the  scaffold  and  an  ignominious  death  ?  Why,  if  your 
honor  please,  the  very  methods  of  our  extermination,  the  deep  dam¬ 
nation  of  its  taking  off,  appeals  to  your  honor’s  sense  of  justice,  of 
rectitude,  and  of  honor.  A  judge  may  also  be  an  unjust  man. 
Such  things  have  been  known.  We  have,  in  our  histories,  heard  of 
Liord  Jeffreys.  It  need  not  follow  that  because  a  man  is  a  judge  he 
is  also  just.  As  everyone  knows,  it  has  long  since  become  the  prac¬ 
tice  in  American  politics  for  the  candidates  for  judgeships  throughout 
the  United  States  to  be  named  by  corporation  and  monopoly  influ¬ 
ences,  and  it  is  a  well-known  secret  that  more  than  one  of  our  Chief 
Justices  have  been  appointed  to  their  seats  upon  the  bench  of  the 
United  States  Supreme  Court  at  the  instance  of  the  leading  railway 
magnates  of  America — the  Huntingtons  and  Jay  Goulds.  Therefore 


A.  R.  PARSONS*  SPEECH  IN  COURT. 


133 


the  people  are  beginning  to  lose  confidence  in  some  of  our  courts  of 
law. 

Now,  I  have  not  been  able  to  gather  together  and  put  in  a  con¬ 
secutive  shape  these  thoughts  which  I  wish  to  present  here  for  your 
consideration.  They  have  been  put  together  hurriedly  in  the  last 
few  days,  since  we  began  to  come  in  here — first,  because  I  did  not 
know  what  you  would  do,  nor  what  the  position  of  your  honor  would 
be  in  the  case ;  and  secondly,  because  I  did  not  know  upon  what 
ground  the  deduction  of  the  prosecution  would  be  made  denying  us 
the  right  of  a  rehearing,  and,  therefore,  if  the  method  of  the  presenta¬ 
tion  of  this  matter  be  somewhat  disconnected  and  disjointed,  it  may 
be  ascribed  to  that  fact,  over  which  I  have  had  no  control. 

I  maintain  that  our  execution,  as  the  matter  stands  just  now, 
would  be  a  judicial  murder,  rank  and  foul,  and  judicial  murder  is 
far  more  infamous  than  lynch  law — far  worse.  Bear  in  mind, 
please,  this  trial  was  conducted  by  a  mob,  prosecuted  by  a  mob,  by 
the  shrieks  and  the  howls  of  a  mob — an  organized,  powerful  mob. 
But  that  trial  is  now  over.  You  sit  here  judicially,  calmly,  quietly, 
and  it  is  now  for  you  to  look  at  this  thing  from  the  standpoint  of 
reason  and  common  sense.  There  is  one  peculiarity  about  the  case 
that  I  want  to  call  your  attention  to.  It  is  the  manner  and  the 
method  of  its  prosecution!  On  the  one  side,  the  attorneys  for  the 
prosecution  conducted  this  case  from  the  standpoint  of  capitalists 
as  against  laborers.  On  the  other  side,  the  attorneys  for  the  de¬ 
fense  conducted  this  case  as  a  defense  against  murder — not  for 
laborers  and  not  against  capitalists. 

The  prosecution  in  this  case  throughout  has  been  a  capitalistic 
prosecution,  inspired  by  the  instinct  of  capitalism,  and  I  mean  by 
that  by  class  feelings,  by  a  dictatorial  right  to  rule,  and  a  denial  to 
common  people  the  right  to  say  anything  or  have  anything  to  say 
to  these  men,  by  that  class  of  persons  who  think  that  working  people 
have  but  one  right  and  one  duty  to  perform,  viz. :  Obedience.  They 
conducted  this  trial  from  that  standpoint  throughout,  and,  as  was 
very  truthfully  stated  by  my  comrade  Fielden,  we  were  prosecuted 
ostensibly  for  murder  until  near  the  end  of  the  trial,  when  all  at 
once  the  jury  is  commanded — yea,  commanded — to  render  a  verdict 
against  us  as  Anarchists. 


134  A.  R.  parsons'  speech  in  court. 

Your  honor,  you  are  aware  of  this;  you  know  this  to  be  the 
truth ;  you  sat  and  heard  it  all.  I  will  not  make  a  statement  but 
what  will  be  in  accord  with  facts,  and  what  I  do  say  is  said  for 
the  purpose  of  refreshing  your  memory  and  asking  you  to  look  at 
both  sides  of  this  matter  and  view  it  from  the  standpoint  of  reason 
and  common  sense. 

Now,  the  money-makers,  the  business  men,  those  people  who 
deal  in  stocks  and  bonds,  the  speculators  and  employers,  all  that 
class  of  men  known  as  the  money-making  class,  have  no  conception 
of  this  labor  question ;  the)^  don’t  understand  what  it  means.  To 
use  the  street  parlance,  with  many  of  them  it  is  a  difficult  matter  to 
“catch  onto"  it,  and  they  are  perverse  also ;  they  will  have  no  knowl¬ 
edge  of  it.  They  don't  want  to  know  anything  about  it,  and  they 
won’t  hear  anything  about  it,  and  they  propose  to  club,  lock  up, 
and,  if  necessary,  strangle  those  who  insist  on  their  hearing  this 
question.  Can  it  be  any  longer  denied  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as 
the  labor  question  in  this  country  ? 

I  am  an  Anarchist.  Now  strike!  But  hear  me  before  you 
strike.  What  is  Socialism,  or  Anarchism?  Briefly  stated,  it  is  the 
right  of  the  toilers  to  the  free  and  equal  use  of  the  tools  of  pro¬ 
duction,  and  the  right  of  the  producers  to  their  product.  That  is 
Socialism.  The  history  of  mankind  is  one  of  growth.  It  has  been 
evolutionary  and  revolutionary.  The  dividing  line  between  evolution 
and  revolution,  or  that  imperceptible  boundary  line  where  one  begins 
and  the  other  ends,  can  never  be  defined.  Who  believed  at  the 
time  that  our  forefathers  tossed  the  tea  into  the  Boston  harbor  that 
it  meant  the  first  revolt  of  the  revolution  separating  this  continent 
from  the  dominion  of  George  III.  and  founding  this  Republic  here 
in  which  we,  their  descendants,  live  to-day?  Evolution  and  revo¬ 
lution  are  synonymous.  Evolution  is  the  incubatory  state  of  revolu¬ 
tion.  The  birth  is  the  revolution — its  process  the  evolution.  What 
is  the  history  of  man  with  regard  to  the  laboring  classes  ? 

Originally  the  earth  and  its  contents  were  held  in  common  by  all 
men.  Then  came  a  change  brought  about  by  violence,  robbery  and 
wholesale  murder,  called  war.  Later,  but  still  way  back  in  history,  we 
find  that  there  were  but  two  classes  in  the  world — slaves  and  masters. 
Time  rolled  on  and  we  find  a  labor  system  of  serfdom.  This  serf- 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  SPEECH  IN  COURT. 


135 


labor  system  existed  in  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries, 
and  throughout  the  world  the  serf  had  a  right  to  the  soil  on  which 
he  lived.  The  lord  of  the  land  could  not  exclude  him  from  its  use. 
But  with  the  discovery  of  America  and  the  developments  which 
followed  that  discovery  and  its  settlement,  a  century  or  two1  after¬ 
wards,  the  gold  found  in  Mexico  and  Peru  by  the  invading  hosts  of 
Cortez  and  Pizarro  who  carried  back  to  Europe  this  precious  metal, 
infused  new  vitality  into  the  stagnant  commercial  blood  of  Europe 
and  set  in  motion  those  wheels  which  have  rolled  on  and  on,  until 
to-day  commerce  covers  the  face  of  the  earth — time  is  annihilated 
and  distance  is  known  no  more.  Following  the  abolition  of  the 
serfdom  system  was  the  establishment  of  the  wage-labor  system. 
This  found  its  fruition,  or  birth,  rather,  in  the  French  revolution  of 
1789  and  1793.  It  was  then  for  the  first  time  that  civil  and  political 
liberty  was  established  in  Europe. 

We  see,  by  a  mere  glance  back  into  history,  that  the  sixteenth 
century  was  engaged  in  a  struggle  for  religious  freedom  and  the 
right  of  conscience — mental  liberty.  Following  that,  in  the  seven¬ 
teenth  and  eighteenth  centuries,  was  the  struggle  throughout  France 
which  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  the  Republic  and  the  founding 
of  the  right  of  political  liberty.  The  struggle  to-day,  which  follows 
on  in  the  line  of  progress,  and  in  the  logic  of  events,  the  industrial 
problem,  which  is  here  in  this  court-room,  of  which  we  are  the  rep¬ 
resentatives,  and  of  which  the  State’s  Attorney  has  said  we  were, 
by  the  grand  jury  selected  because  we  were  the  leaders  of  it,  and 
are  to  be  punished  and  consigned  to  an  ignominious  death  for  that 
reason,  that  the  wage  slaves  of  Chicago  and  of  America  may  be 
horrified,  terror-stricken,  and  driven  like  ‘Tats  back  to  their  holes,” 
to  hunger,  slavery,  misery  and  death.  The  industrial  question, 
following  on  in  the  natural  order  of  events,  the  wage  system  of  in¬ 
dustry,  is  now  up  for  consideration ;  it  presses  for  a  hearing ;  it 
demands  a  solution ;  it  cannot  be  throttled  by  this  District  Attorney, 
nor  all  the  District  Attorneys  upon  the  soil  of  America. 

Now,  what  is  this  labor  question  which  these  gentlemen  treat 
with  such  profound  contempt,  which  these  distinguished,  “honorable,, 
gentlemen  would  throttle  and  put  to  ignominious  death,  and  hurry 
us  like  “rats  to  our  holes”?  What  is  it?  You  will  pardon  me  if  I 


136 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  SPEECH  IN  COURT. 


exhibit  some  feeling  ?  I  have  sat  here  for  two  months,  and  these  men 
have  poured  their  vituperations  out  upon  my  head  and  I  have  not 
been  permitted  to  utter  a  single  word  in  my  own  defense.  For  two 
months  they  have  poured  their  poison  upon  me  and  my  colleagues. 
For  two  months  they  have  sat  here  and  spit  like  adders  the  vile 
poison  of  their  tongues,  and  if  men  could  have  been  placed  in  a 
mental  inquisition  and  tortured  to  death,  these  men  would  have 
succeeded  here  now — vilified,  misrepresented,  held  in  loathsome  con¬ 
tempt  without  a  chance  to  speak  or  contradict  a  word.  Therefore,  if 
I  show  emotion,  it  is  because  of  this,  and  if  my  comrades  and  col¬ 
leagues  with  me  here  have  spoken  in  such  strains  as  these,  it  is  be¬ 
cause  of  this.  Pardon  us.  Look  at  it  from  the  right  standpoint. 

What  is  this  labor  question  ?  It  is  not  a  question  of  emotion ; 
the  labor  question  is  not  a  question  of  sentiment ;  it  is  not  a  religious 
matter ;  it  is  not  a  political  problem ;  no,  sir,  it  is  a  stern  economic 
fact,  a  stubborn  and  immovable  fact.  It  has,  it  is  true,  its  emotional 
phase;  it  has  its  sentimental,  religious,  political  aspects,  but  the  sum 
total  of  this  question  is  the  bread  and  butter  question,  the  how  and 
the  why  we  will  live  and  earn  our  daily  bread.  This  is  the  labor 
movement.  It  has  a  scientific  basis.  It  is  founded  upon  fact,  and  I 
have  been  to  considerable  pains  in  my  researches  of  well-known  and 
distinguished  authors  on  this  question  to  collect  and  present  to  you 
briefly  what  this  question  is  and  what  it  springs  from.  I  will  first 
explain  to  you  briefly  what  capital  is. 

Capital — artificial  capital — is  the  stored-up,  accumulated  sur¬ 
plus  of  past  labor ;  capital  is  the  product  of  labor.  Its  function  is 
— that  is  the  function  of  capital  is — to  appropriate  or  confiscate  for 
its  own  use  and  benefit  the  “surplus”  labor  product  of  the  wealth- 
producer.  The  capitalistic  system  originated  in  the  forcible  seizure 
of  natural  opportunities  and  rights  by  a  few  and  then  converting 
those  things  into  special  privileges  which  have  since  become  “vested 
rights,”  formally  intrenched  behind  the  bulwarks  of  statute  law  and 
Government.  Capital  could  not  exist  unless  there  also  existed  a 
majority  class  who  were  propertyless,  that  is,  without  capital,  a 
class  whose  only  mode  of  existence  is  by  selling  their  labor  to  capi¬ 
talists.  Capitalism  is  maintained,  fostered,  and  perpetuated  by  law; 
in  fact,  capital  is  law — statute  law — and  law  is  capital. 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  SPEECH  IN  COURT. 


137 


Now,  briefly  stated,  for  I  will  not  take  your  time  but  a  moment, 
what  is  labor?  Labor  is  a  commodity  and  wages  is  the  price  paid 
for  it.  The  owner  of  this  commodity — of  labor — sells  it,  that  is, 
himself,  to  the  owner  of  capital  in  order  to  live.  Labor  is  the  ex¬ 
pression  of  energy,  the  power  of  the  laborer’s  life.  This  energy  or 
power  he  must  sell  to  another  person  in  order  to  live.  It  is  his  only 
means  of  existence.  He  works  to  live,  but  his  work  is  not  simply 
a  part  of  his  life ;  it  is  the  sacrifice  of  it.  His  labor  is  a  commodity 
which  under  the  guise  of  free  labor,  he  is  forced  by  necessity  to 
hand  over  to  another  party.  The  whole  of  the  wage  laborer’s 
activity  is  not  the  product  of  his  labor — far  from  it.  The  silk  he 
weaves,  the  palace  he  builds,  the  ores  he  digs  from  out  the  mines 
are  not  for  him — oh,  no.  The  only  thing  he  produces  for  himself  is 
his  wage,  and  the  silk,  the  ores  and  the  palace  which  he  has  built 
are  simply  transformed  for  him  into  a  certain  kind  of  means  of 
existence,  namely,  a  cotton  shirt,  a  few  pennies,  and  the  mere  ten- 
antcy  of  a  lodging-house.  In  other  words,  his  wages  represent  the 
bare  necessities  of  his  existence  and  the  unpaid-for  or  “surplus”  por¬ 
tion  of  his  labor  product  constitutes  the  vast  superabundant  wealth 

of  the  non-producing  or  capitalistic  class.  That  is  the  capitalistic 

* 

system  defined  in  a  few  words.  It  is  this  system  that  creates  these 
classes,  and  it  is  these  classes  that  produce  this  conflict.  This  conflict 
intensifies  as  the  power  of  the  privileged  classes  over  the  non-pos¬ 
sessing  or  propertyless  classes  increases  and  intensifies,  and  this 
power  increases  as  the  idle  few  become  richer  and  the  producing 
many  become  poorer,  and  this  produces  what  is  called  the  labor 
movement.  This  is  the  labor  question.  Wealth  is  power;  poverty 
is  weakness. 

If  I  had  time  I  might  stop  here  to  answer  some  suggestions  that 
probably  arise  in  the  minds  of  some  persons,  or  perhaps  of  your 
honor,  not  being  familiar  with  this  question.  I  imagine  I  hear  your 
honor  say,  “Why,  labor  is  free.  This  is  a  free  country.”  Now,  we 
had  in  the  Southern  States  for  nearly  a  century  a  form  of  labor 
known  as  chattel  slave  labor.  That  has  been  abolished,  and  I  hear 
you  say  that  labor  is  free ;  that  the  war  has  resulted  in  establishing 
free  labor  all  over  America.  Is  this  true  ?  Look  at  it.  The  chattel 
slave  of  the  past — the  wage  slave  of  to-day;  what  is  the  difference? 


138 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  SPEECH  IN  COURT. 


The  master  selected  under  chattel  slavery  his  own  slaves.  Under 
the  wage- slavery  system  the  wage  slave  selects  his  master.  For¬ 
merly  the  master  selected  the  slave;  to-day  the  slave  selects  his 
master,  and  he  has  got  to  find  one  or  else  he  is  carried  down  here 
to  my  friend,  the  gaoler  and  occupies  a  cell  alongside  of  myself.  He 
is  compelled  to  find  one.  So  the  change  of  the  industrial  system, 
in  the  language  of  Jefferson  Davis,  ex-President  of  the  Southern 
Confederacy,  in  an  interview  with  the  New  York  Herald  upon  the 
question  of  the  chattel  slave  system  of  the  South  and  that  of  the  so- 
called  “free-laborer,”  and  their  wages — Jefferson  Davis  has  stated 
positively  that  the  change  was  a  decided  benefit  to  the  former  chattel 
slave  owners,  who  would  not  exchange  the  new  system  of  wage  labor 
at  all  for  chattel  labor,  because  now  the  dead  had  to  bury  themselves 
and  the  sick  take  care  of  themselves,  and  now  they  don’t  have  to 
employ  overseers  to  look  after  them.  They  give  them  a  task  to'  do — 
a  certain  amount  to  do.  They  say:  “Now,  here,  perform  this  piece 
of  work  in  a  certain  length  of  time,”  and  if  you  don’t  (under  the 
wage-system,  says  Mr.  Davis),  why,  when  you  come  around  for  your 
pay  next  Saturday  you  simply  find  in  the  envelope  which  gives  you 
your  money  a  note  which  informs  you  of  the  fact  that  you  have  been 
discharged.  Now,  Jefferson  Davis  admitted  in  his  statement  that  the 
leather  thong  dipped  in  salt  brine,  for  the  chattel  slave,  had  been  ex¬ 
changed  under  the  wage  system  for  the  lash  of  hunger,  an  empty 
stomach,  and  the  ragged  back  of  the  wage-earner  of  free-born  Ameri¬ 
can  sovereign  citizens,  who,  according  to  the  census  of  the  United 
States  for  1880,  constitute  more  than  nine-tenths  of  our  entire  popu¬ 
lation.  But,  you  say,  the  wage  slave  had  advantages  over  the  chattel 
slave.  The  chattel  slave  couldn’t  get  away  from  it.  Well,  if  we  had 
the  statistics,  I  believe  it  could  be  shown  that  as  many  chattel  slaves 
escaped  from  bondage  with  the  bloodhounds  of  their  masters  after 
them  as  they  tracked  their  way  over  the  snow-beaten  rocks  of  Canada, 
and  via  the  underground  grape-vine  road — I  believe  the  statistics 
would  show  to-day  that  as  many  chattel  slaves  escaped  from  their 
bondage  under  that  system  as  can,  and  as  many  as  do,  to-day  from 
the  wage  bondage  into  capitalistic  liberty. 

I  am  a  Socialist.  I  am  one  of  those,  although  myself  a  wage  slave, 
who  holds  that  it  was  wrong — wrong  to  myself,  wrong  to  my  neigh- 


A.  R.  parsons'  speech  in  court. 


139 


bor,  and  unjust  to  my  fellowmen — for  me  to  undertake  to  make  my 
escape  from  wage  slavery  by  becoming  a  master  and  an  owner  of 
others’  labor.  I  refuse  to  do  it.  Had  I  chosen  another  path  in  life, 
I  might  be  living  upon  an  avenue  of  the  city  of  Chicago  to-day,  sur¬ 
rounded  in  my  beautiful  home  with  luxury  and  ease,  and  servants  to 
do  my  bidding.  But  I  chose  the  other  road,  and  instead  I  stand  here 
to-day  upon  the  scaffold,  as  it  were.  This  is  my  crime.  Before  high 
heaven  this  and  this  alone  is  my  crime.  I  have  been  false,  I  have  been 
untrue,  and  I  am  a  traitor  to  the  infamies  that  exist  to-day  in  capital¬ 
istic  society.  If  this  is  a  crime  in  your  opinion  I  plead  guilty  to  it. 
Now,  be  patient  with  me;  I  have  been  with  you — or,  rather,  I  have 
been  patient  with  this  trial.  Follow  me,  if  you  please,  and  look  at  the 
oppressions  of  this  capitalistic  system  of  industry.  As  was  depicted 
by  my  comrade  Fielden  this  morning,  every  new  machine  that  comes 
into  existence  comes  there  as  a  competitor  with  the  man  of  labor. 
Every  machine  under  the  capitalistic  system  that  is  introduced  into 
industrial  affairs  comes  as  a  competitor,  as  a  drag  and  menace  and  a 
prey  to  the  very  existence  of  those  who  have  to  sell  their  labor  in 
order  to  earn  their  bread.  The  man  is  turned  out  to  starve  and  whole 
occupations  and  pursuits  are  evolutionized  and  completely  destroyed 
by  the  introduction  of  machinery  in  a  day,  in  an  hour,  as  it  were.  I 
have  known  it  to  be  the  case  in  the  history  of  my  own  life — and  I 
am  yet  a  young  man — that  whole  pursuits  and  occupations  have  been 
wiped  out  by  the  invention  of  machinery. 

What  becomes  of  these  people  ?  Where  are  they  ?  They  become 
competitors  of  other  laborers,  and  are  made  to  reduce  wages  and 
increase  the  work  hours.  Many  of  them  are  candidates  for  the  gibbet, 
they  are  candidates  for  your  prison  cells.  Build  more  penitentiaries ; 
erect  more  scaffolds,  for  these  men  are  upon  the  highway  of  crime, 
of  misery,  of  death. 

Your  honor,  there  never  was  an  effect  without  a  cause.  The  tree 
is  known  by  its  fruit.  Socialists  are  not  those  who  blindly  close  their 
eyes  and  refuse  to  hear,  but  having  eyes  to  see,  they  see,  and  having 
ears  to  hear,  they  hear.  Look  at  this  capitalistic  system';  look  at  its 
operation  upon  the  small  business  men,  the  small  dealers,  the  middle 
class.  Bradstreet’s  tells  us  in  last  year’s  report  that  there  were  11,000 
small  business  men  financially  destroyed  in  the  past  twelve  months. 


140 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  SPEECH  IN  COURT. 


What  became  of  those  people  ?  Where  are  they,  and  why  have  they 
been  wiped  out?  Has  there  been  any  less  wealth?  No;  that  which 
they  possessed  has  simply  transferred  itself  into  the  hands  of  some 
other  person.  Who  is  that  other?  It  is  he  who  has  greater  capital¬ 
istic  facilities.  It  is  the  monopolist,  the  man  who  can  run  corners, 
who  can  create  rings  and  squeeze  these  men  to  death  and  wipe  them 
out  like  dead  flies  from  the  table  into  his  monopolistic  basket.  The 
middle  classes  destroyed  in  this  manner  join  the  ranks  of  the  prole¬ 
tariat.  They  become  what?  They  seek  out  the  factory  gate,  they 
seek  in  the  various  occupations  of  wage  labor  for  employment.  What 
is  the  result?  Then  there  are  more  men  upon  the  market.  This  in¬ 
creases  the  number  of  those  who  are  applying  for  employment.  What 
then?  This  intensifies  the  competition,  which  in  turn  creates  greater 
monopolists,  and  with  it  wages  go  down  until  the  starvation  point  is 
reached,  and  then  what? 

Your  honor,  Socalism  comes  to  the  people  and  asks  them  to  look 
into  this  thing,  to  discuss  it,  to  reason,  to  examine  it,  to  investigate  it, 
to  know  the  facts,  because  it  is  by  this,  and  this  alone,  that  violence 
will  be  prevented  and  bloodshed  will  be  avoided,  because,  as  my 
friend  here  has  said,  men  in  their  blind  rage,  in  their  ignorance,  not 
knowing  what  ails  them,  strike  blindly,  and  do  as  they  did  with  Max¬ 
well  in  this  city,  and  fight  the  labor-saving  machinery.  Imagine  such 
an  absurd  thing,  and  yet  the  capitalistic  press  has  taken  great  pains 
to  say  the  Socialists  do  these  things ;  that  we  fight  machinery ;  that 
we  fight  property.  Why,  sir,  it  is  an  absurdity ;  it  is  ridiculous ;  it 
is  preposterous.  No  man  ever  heard  an  utterance  from  the  mouth 
of  a  Socialist  to  advise  anything  of  the  kind.  They  know  to  the  con¬ 
trary.  We  don’t  fight  machinery;  we  don’t  oppose  these  things.  It 
is  only  the  manner  and  methods  of  employing  it  that  we  object  to. 
That  is  all.  It  is  the  manipulations  of  these  things  in  the  interest  of 
a  few ;  it  is  the  monopolization  of  them  that  we  object  to.  We  desire 
that  all  the  forces  of  nature,  all  the  forces  of  society,  of  the  gigantic 
strength  which  has  resulted  from  the  combined  intellect  and  labor 
of  the  ages  of  the  past  shall  be  turned  over  to  man  and  made  his  ser¬ 
vant,  his  obedient  slave  forever.  This  is  the  object  of  Socialism.  It 
asks  no  one  to  give  up  anything.  It  seeks  no  harm  to  anybody.  But 
when  we  witness  this  condition  of  things — when  we  see  little  children 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  SPEECH  IN  COURT. 


141 

huddling  around  the  factory  gates,  the  poor  little  things  whose  bones 
are  not  yet  hard ;  when  we  see  them  clutched  from  the  hearthstone, 
taken  from  the  family  altar,  and  carried  to  the  bastiles  of  labor  and 
their  little  bones  ground  up  into  gold-dust  to  bedeck  the  form  of  some 
aristocratic  Jezebel — then  it  stirs  me  and  I  speak  out.  We  plead  for 
the  little  ones ;  we  plead  for  the  helpless ;  we  plead  for  the  oppressed ; 
we  seek  redress  for  those  who  are  wronged ;  we  seek  knowledge  and 
intelligence  for  the  ignorant ;  we  seek  liberty  for  the  slave ;  Socialism 
secures  the  welfare  of  every  human  being. 

Your  honor,  if  you  will  permit  it,  I  would  like  to  stop  now  and 
resume  to-morrow  morning. 

The  Court  here  adjourned  until  10  o’clock  the  following  day. 

MR.  PARSONS  RESUMES. 

Your  honor,  I  concluded  last  evening  at  that  portion  of  my  state¬ 
ment  before  you  which  had  for  its  purpose  a  showing  of  the  opera¬ 
tions  and  effects  of  our  existing  social  system,  the  evils  which  natur¬ 
ally  flow  from  the  established  social  relations,  which  are  founded 
upon  the  economic  subjection  and  dependence  of  the  man  of  labor  to 
the  monopolizer  of  the  means  of  labor  and  the  resources  of  life.  I 
sought  in  this  connection  to  show  that  the  ills  that  afflict  society — 
social  miseries,  mental  degradations,  political  dependence — all  re¬ 
sulted  from  the  economic  subjection  and  dependence  of  the  man  of 
labor  upon  the  monopolizer  of  the  means  of  existence ;  and  as  long 
as  the  cause  remains  the  effect  must  certainly  follow. 

I  pointed  out  what  Bradstreefs  had  to  say  in  regard  to  the  de¬ 
struction  of  the  middle  class  last  year.  As  it  affects  the  small  dealers, 
the  middle  class  men  of  our  shop  streets,  the  same  influences  are  like¬ 
wise  at  work  among  the  farming  classes.  According  to  statistics  90 
per  cent,  of  the  farms  of  America  are  to-day  under  mortgage.  The 
man  who  a  few  years  ago  owned  the  soil  that  he  worked  is  to-day  a 
tenant  at  will,  and  a  mortgage  is  placed  upon  his  soil,  and  when  he — 
the  farmer  whose  hand  tickles  the  earth  and  causes  it  to  blossom  as 
the  rose  and  bring  forth  its  rich  fruits  for  human  sustenance — even 
while  this  man  is  asleep  the  interest  upon  the  mortgage  continues.  It 
grows  and  it  increases,  rendering  it  more  and  more  difficult  for  him 


142 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  SPEECH  IN  COURT. 


to  get  along  or  make  his  living.  In  the  meantime  the  railway  cor¬ 
porations  place  upon  the  traffic  all  that  the  market  will  bear.  The 
Board  of  Trade  sharks  run  their  corners  until — what?  Until  it  oc¬ 
curs,  as  stated  in  the  Chicago  Tribune  about  three  months  ago,  that 
a  freight  train  of  corn  from  Iowa,  consigned  to  a  commission  mer¬ 
chant  m  Chicago1,  had  to  be  sold  for — well,  for  less  than  the  cost  of 
freight,  and  there  was  a  balance  due  the  commission  man  on  the 
freight  of  $3  after  he  had  sold  the  corn.  The  freight  upon  that  corn 
was  $3  more  than  the  corn  brought  in  the  market.  So  it  is  with  the 
tenant  farmers  of  America. 

Your  honor,  we  do  not  have  to  go  to  Ireland  to  find  the  evils  of 
landlordism.  We  do  not  have  to  cross  the  Atlantic  ocean  to  find 
Lord  Lietriem’s  rack-renters,  landlords  who  evict  their  tenants.  We 
have  them  all  around  us.  There  is  Ireland  right  here  in  Chicago  and 
everywhere  else  in  this  country.  Look  at  Bridgeport,  where  the 
Irish  live !  Look !  Tenants  at  will,  huddled  together  as  State’s  At¬ 
torney  Grinnell  calls  them,  like  rats ;  living  as  they  do  in  Dublin, 
living  precisely  as  they  do  in  Limerick — taxed  to  death,  unable  to 
meet  the  extortions  of  the  landlord. 

We  were  told  by  the  prosecution  that  law  is  on  trial ;  that  Gov¬ 
ernment  is  on  trial.  That  is  what  the  gentlemen  on  the  other  side 
stated  to  the  jury.  The  law  is  on  trial,  and  Government  is  on  trial. 
Well,  up  to  near  the  conclusion  of  this  trial  we,  the  defendants,  sup¬ 
posed  that  we  were  indicted  and  being  tried  for  murder.  Now,  if  the 
law  is  on  trial  and  if  the  Government  is  on  trial,  who  has  placed  it 
upon  trial?  And  I  leave  it  to  the  people  of  America  whether  the 
prosecution  in  this  case  have  made  out  a  case ;  and  I  charge  it  here 
now  frankly  that  in  order  to  bring  about  this  conviction  the  prosecu¬ 
tion,  the  representatives  of  the  State,  the  sworn  officers  of  the  law, 
those  whose  obligation  it  is  to  the  people  to  obey  the  law  and  pre¬ 
serve  order — I  charge  upon  them  a  willful,  a  malicious,  a  purposed 
violation  of  every  law  which  guarantees  every  right  to  every  Ameri¬ 
can  citizen.  They  have  violated  free  speech.  In  the  prosecution  of 
this  case  they  have  violated  a  free  press.  They  have  violated  the 
right  of  public  assembly.  Yea,  they  have  even  violated  and  denounced 
the  right  of  self-defense.  I  charge  the  crime  home  to  them.  These 
great  blood-bought  rights,  for  which  our  forefathers  spent  centuries 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  SPEECH  IN  COURT. 


143 


of  struggle,  it  is  attempted  to  run  them  like  rats  into  a  hole  by  the 
prosecution  in  this  case.  Why,  gentlemen,  “law  is  upon  trial,”  “Gov¬ 
ernment  is  upon  trial,”  indeed.  Yea,  they  are  themselves  guilty  of 
the  precise  thing  of  which  they  accuse  me.  They  say  that  I  am  an 
Anarchist  and  refuse  to  respect  the  law.  “By  their  works  ye  shall 
know  them,”  and  out  of  their  own  mouths  they  stand  condemned. 
They  are  the  real  Anarchists  in  this  case,  as  that  word  is  commonly 
understood,  while  we  stand  upon  the  constitution  of  the  United  States. 

I  have  violated  no  law  of  this  country.  Neither  I  nor  my  col¬ 
leagues  here  have  violated  any  legal  right  of  American  citizens.  We 
stand  upon  the  right  of  free  speech,  of  free  press,  of  public  assem¬ 
blage,  unmolested  and  undisturbed.  We  stand  upon  the  constitutional 
right  of  self-defence,  and  we  defy  the  prosecution  to  rob  the  people 
of  America  of  these  dearly  bought  rights.  But  the  prosecution  imag¬ 
ines  that  they  have  triumphed  because  they  propose  to  put  to  death 
seven  men.  Seven  men  to  be  exterminated  in  violation  of  law,  be¬ 
cause  they  insist  upon  the  inalienable  rights.  Seven  men  are  to  be 
exterminated  because  they  demand  the  right  of  free  speech  and  ex¬ 
ercise  it.  Seven  men  by  this  court  of  law  are  to  be  put  to  death  be¬ 
cause  they  claim  their  right  of  self-defence.  Do  you  think,  gentlemen 
of  the  prosecution,  that  you  will  have  settled  the  case  when  you  are 
carrying  my  lifeless  bones  to  the  potter’s  field?  Do  you  think  that 
this  trial  will  be  settled  by  my  strangulation  and  that  of  my  col¬ 
leagues?  I  tell  you  that  there  is  a  greater  verdict  yet  to  be  heard 
from.  The  American  people  will  have  something  to  say  about  this 
attempt  to  destroy  their  rights,  which  they  hold  sacred.  The  Ameri¬ 
can  people  will  have  something  to'  say  when  they  understand  this 
case,  as  to  whether  or  not  the  Constitution  of  this  country  can  be 
trampled  under  foot  at  the  dictation  of  monopoly  and  corporations 
and  their  hired  tools. 

Your  honor  read  yesterday  your  reasons  for  refusing  us  a  new 
trial,  and  I  want  to  call  your  attention  to  it,  if  you  please,  on  some 
points  on  which  I  think  your  honor  is  laboring  under  misapprehen¬ 
sion.  Your  honor  says  that  there  can  be  no  question  in  the  mind  of 
any  one  who  has  read  these  articles  (referring  to  the  Alarm  and  Ar¬ 
beit  er-Zeitung) ,  or  heard  these  speeches,  which  were  written  and 
spoken  long  before  the  eight-hour  movement  was  talked  of,  that  this 


144 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  SPEECH  IN  COURT. 


movement  which  they  advocated  was  but  a  means  in  their  estimation 
toward  the  ends  which  they  sought,  and  the  movement  itself  was  not 
primarily  of  any  consideration  at  all.  Now,  your  honor,  I  submit 
that  you  are  sitting  now  in  judgment,  not  alone  upon  my  acts,  but  also 
upon  my  motives.  Now,  that  is  a  dangerous  thing  for  any  man  to 
do ;  any  man  is  so  liable  to  make  a  mistake  in  a  matter  of  that  kind. 
I  claim  that  it  would  not  be  fair  for  you  to  assume  to  state  what  my 
motives  were  in  the  eight-hour  movement,  that  I  was  simply  using  it 
for  another  purpose.  How  do  you  know  that?  Can  you  read  my 
heart  and  order  my  actions  ?  If  you  go  by  the  record,  the  record  will 
disprove  your  conjecture,  because  it  is  a  conjecture!  The  State's 
Attorney  has  throughout  this  trial  done  precisely  what  Mr.  English, 
the  reporter  of  the  Tribune,  said  he  was  instructed  to  do  by  the  pro¬ 
prietor  of  the  Tribune,  when  he  attended  labor  meetings.  It  was  the 
custom  of  the  head  editors  of  the  large  dailies  to  instruct  those  who 
went  to  these  labor  meetings  to  report  only  the  inflammatory  and 
inciting  passages  of  the  speaker’s  remarks  at  the  meetings.  That  is 
precisely  the  scheme  laid  out  by  the  prosecution.  They  have  pre¬ 
sented  you  here  copies  of  the  Alarm  running  back  for  three  years 
and  my  speeches  covering  three  years  back.  They  have  selected  such 
portions  of  those  articles,  and  such  articles,  mark  you,  as  subserve 
their  purpose,  such  as  they  supposed  would  be  calculated  to  inflame 
your  mind  and  prejudice  you  and  the  jury  against  us.  You  ought 
to  be  careful  of  this  thing. 

It  is  not  fair,  and  it  is  not  right  for  you  to  conclude  that,  from 
the  showing  made  by  these  gentlemen,  we  were  not  what  we  pre¬ 
tended  to  be  in  this  labor  movement.  Take  the  record.  Why,  I  am 
well  known  throughout  the  United  States  for  years  and  years  past 
— my  name  is — and  I  have  come  in  personal  contact  with  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  workingmen  from  Nebraska  in  the  West  to  New  York 
in  the  East,  and  from  Maryland  to  Wisconsin  and  Minnesota.  I 
have  traversed  the  States  for  the  past  ten  years,  and  I  am  known 
by  hundreds  of  thousands  who  have  seen  and  heard  me.  Possibly  I 
had  better  stop  a  little,  just  a  moment,  here,  and  explain  how  this 
was.  These  labor  organizations  sent  for  me.  Sometimes  it  was  the 
Knights  of  Labor,  sometimes  it  was  the  trades  unions,  sometimes  the 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  SPEECH  IN  COURT. 


145 


Socialistic  organizations ;  but  always  as  an  organizer  of  workingmen, 
always  as  a  labor  speaker  at  labor  meetings. 

Now,  if  there  is  anything  for  which  I  am  well  known  it  is  my  ad¬ 
vocacy  of  the  eight-hour  system  of  labor.  But  because  I  have 
in  this  connection  that  I  did  not  believe  it  would  be  possible  to>  bring 
about  a  reform  of  this  present  wage  system,  because  of  the  fact  that 
the  power  of  the  employing  class  is  so  great  that  they  can  refuse  to 
make  any  concessions,  you  say  that  I  had  no  interest  in  the  eight- 
hour  movement. 

Is  it  not  a  fact  that  the  present  social  system  places  all  power 
in  the  hands  of  the  capitalistic  class?  They  can  and  do  refuse  to 
make  any  concessions,  and  where  they  grant  anything  they  retract 
it  when  they  choose  to  do<  so.  They  can  do  it.  The  wage  system 
gives  them  the  power.  The  tyranny  and  the  despotism  of  the  wage 
system  of  labor  consists  in  the  fact  that  the  laborer  is  compelled 
under  penalty  of  hunger  and  death  by  starvation  to  obey  and  accept 
terms  laid  down  to  him  by  his  employer.  Hence  I  have  pointed  out 
that  it  might  be  difficult,  for  this  reason,  to  establish  an  eight-hour 
rule. 

What  have  I  said  in  this  connection?  I  have  said  to  the  em¬ 
ployers,  to  the  manufacturers,  and  to  the  corporations — the  monop¬ 
olists  of  America :  “Gentlemen,  the  eight-hour  system  of  labor  is 
the  olive  branch  of  peace  held  out  to  you.  Take  it.  Concede  this 
moderate  demand  of  the  working  people.  Give  them  better  oppor¬ 
tunities.  Let  them  possess  the  leisure  which  eight  hours  will  bring. 
Let  it  operate  on  the  wants  and  the  daily  habits  of  the  people.”  I 
have  talked  this  way  to  the  rich  of  this  country  in  every  place  I  have 
gone,  and  I  have  told  them — not  in  the  language  of  a  threat,  not 
in  the  language  of  intimidation — I  have  said :  “If  you  do  not  con¬ 
cede  this  demand,  if  on  the  other  hand  you  increase  the  hours  of 
labor  and  employ  more  and  more  machinery,  you  thereby  increase 
the  number  of  enforced  idle ;  you  thereby  swell  the  army  of  the 
compulsory  idle  and  unemployed ;  you  create  new  elements  of  dis¬ 
content;  you  increase  the  army  of  idleness  and  misery.”  I  said  to 
them :  “This  is  a  dangerous  condition  of  things  to  have  in  a  coun¬ 
try.  It  is  liable  to  lead  to  violence.  It  will  drive  the  workers  into 
revolution.  The  eight-hour  demand  is  a  measure  which  is  in  the 


146 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  SPEECH  IN  COURT. 


interest  of  humanity,  in  the  interest  of  peace,’  in  the  interest  of 
prosperity  and  public  order." 

Now,  your  honor,  can  you  take  your  comments  there  and  say  that 
we  had  other  motives  and  ulterior  motives?  Your  impression  is  de¬ 
rived  from  the  inflammatory  sections  and  articles  selected  by  the  pros¬ 
ecution  for  your  honor  to  read.  I  think  I  know  what  my  motives 
were,  and  I  am  stating  them  deliberately,  and  fairly  and  honestly, 
leaving  you  to  judge  whether  or  not  I  am  telling  the  truth.  You  say 
that  "the  different  papers  and  speeches  furnish  direct  contradiction  to 
the  arguments  of  the  counsel  for  the  defense  that  we  proposed  to 
resort  to  arms  only  in  case  of  unlawful  attacks  of  the  police."  Why, 
the  very  article  that  you  quote  in  the  Alarm— a  copy  of  which  I  have 
not,  but  which  I  would  like  to  see — calling  the  American  Group  to 
assemble  for  the  purpose  of  considering  military  matters  and  mili¬ 
tary  organization,  states  specifically  that  the  purpose  and  object  is 
to  take  into  consideration  measures  of  defense  against  unlawful  and 
unconstitutional  attacks  of  the  police.  That  identical  article  shows 
it.  You  forgot,  surely,  that  fact  when  you  made  this  observation ; 
and  I  defy  any  one  to  show,  in  a  speech  that  is  susceptible  of  proof, 
by  proof,  that  I  have  ever  said  aught  by  word  of  mouth  or  by  written 
article  except  in  self-defense.  Does  not  the  constitution  of  the  coun¬ 
try,  under  whose  flag  myself  and  my  forefathers  were  born  for  the 
last  260  years,  provide  that  protection,  and  give  me,  their  descendant, - 
that  right?  Does  not  the  Constitution  say  that  I,  as  an  American, 
have  a  right  to  keep  and  bear  arms?  I  stand  upon  that  right.  Let 
me  see  if  this  Court  will  deprive  me  of  it. 

Let  me  call  your  attention  to  another  point  here.  These  articles 
that  appear  in  the  Alarm,  for  some  of  them  I  am  not  responsible 
any  more  than  the  editor  of  any  other  paper.  I  did  not  write  every¬ 
thing  in  the  Alarm,  and  it  might  be  possible  that  there  were  some 
things  in  that  paper  which  I  am  not  ready  to  endorse.  I  am  frank 
to  admit  that  such  is  the  case.  I  suppose  you  could  scarcely  find 
an  editor  of  a  paper  in  the  world  but  could  conscientiously  say  the 
same  thing.  Now,  am  I  to  be  dragged  here  and  executed  for  the 
utterances  and  the  writings  of  other  men,  even  though  they  were 
published  in  the  columns  of  a  paper  of  which  I  was  the  editor? 

Your  honor,  you  must  remember  that  the  Alarm  was  a  labor 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  SPEECH  IN  COURT. 


147 


paper,  published  by  the  International  Working  People’s  Association. 
Belonging  to  that  body,  I  was  elected  its  editor  by  the  organization, 
and,  as  labor  editors  generally  are,  I  was  handsomely  paid.  I  had 
saw-dust  pudding  as  a  general  thing  for  dinner.  My  salary  was  $8 
a  week,  and  I  have  received  that  salary  as  editor  of  the  Alarm  for 
over  two  years  and  a  half — $8  a  week !  I  was  paid  by  the  associa¬ 
tion.  It  stands  upon  the  books.  Go  down  to  the  office  and  consult 
the  business  manager.  Look  over  the  record  in  the  book  and  it  will 
show  you  that  Albert  R.  Parsons  received  $8  a  week  as  editor  of  the 
Alarm  for  over  two  years  and  a  half.  This  paper  belonged  to  the 
organization.  It  was  theirs.  They  sent  in  their  articles — Tom,  Dick, 
and  Harry ;  everybody  wanted  to  have  something  to  say,  and  I  had 
no  right  to  shut  off  anybody’s  complaint.  The  Alarm  was  a  labor 
paper,  and  it  was  specifically  published  for  the  purpose  of  allowing 
every  human  being  who  wore  the  chains  of  monopoly  an  opportunity 
to  clank  those  chains  in  the  columns  of  the  Alarm.  It  was  a  free 
press  organ.  It  was  a  free  speech  newspaper.  But  your  honor  says : 
“Oh,  well,  Parsons,  your  own  language,  your  own  words,  your  own 
statements  at  this  meeting — what  you  said.”  Well,  possibly,  I  have 
said  some  foolish  things.  Who  has  not  ?  As  a  public  speaker,  prob¬ 
ably  I  have  uttered  some  wild  and  possibly  incoherent  assertions. 
Who,  as  a  public  speaker,  has  not  done  so  ? 

Now,  consider  for  a  moment.  Suppose,  as  is  now  the  case  with 
me  here,  I  see  little  children  suffering,  men  and  women  starving.  I 
see  others  rolling  in  luxury  and  wealth  and  opulence,  out  of  the 
unpaid-for  labor  of  the  laborers.  I  am  conscious  of  this  fact.  I  see 
the  streets  of  Chicago,  as  was  the  case  last  winter,  filled  with  30,000 
men  in  compulsory  idleness ;  destitution,  misery,  and  want  upon 
every  hand.  I  see  this  thing.  Then,  on  the  other  hand,  I  see  the 
First  Regiment  out  in  a  street-riot  drill,  and  reading  the  papers  the 
next  morning  describing  the  affair,  I  am  told  by  the  editor  of  this 
capitalistic  newspaper  that  the  First  Regiment  is  out  practicing  a 
street-riot  drill  for  the  purpose  of  mowing  down  these  wretches 
when  they  come  out  of  their  holes  that  the  prosecution  talks  about 
here  in  this  case ;  that  the  working  people  are  to  be  slaughtered  in 
cold  blood,  and  that  men  are  drilling  upon  the  streets  of  the  cities 
of  America  to  butcher  their  fellow-men  when  they  demand  the  right 


1 48 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  SPEECH  IN  COURT. 

to  work  and  partake  of  the  fruits  of  their  labor !  Seeing  these 
things,  overwhelmed  as  it  were  with  indignation  and  pity,  my  heart 
speaks.  May  4  not  say  some  things  then  that  I  would  not  in  cooler 
moments?  Are  not  such  outrageous  things  calculated  to  arouse  the 
bitterest  denunciations  ? 

»!»  ^  4*  ^  »if 

'I'  ■*TX  'r  *1*  "r*  4*  'p 

In  this  connection  I  want  to  call  your  attention  to  the  way  armed 
men — militiamen  and  Pinkerton’s  private  army — are  used  against 
workingmen,  strikers ;  the  way  they  are  used  to  shoot,  to  arrest,  to  put 
up  jobs  on  them,  and  carry  them  out.  I11  the  Alarm  of  October 
17,  1885,  there  is  printed  the  following: 

PINKERTON’S  ARMY. 


THEY  ISSUE  A  SECRET  CIRCULAR  OFFERING  THEIR  SERVICES  TO  CAPITALISTS  FOR 

THE  SUPPRESSION  OF  STRIKERS. 


The  secretary  of  the  Minneapolis,  Minn.,  Trades  and  Labor  Assembly 
sends  us  the  following  note : 

“Minneapolis,  Minn.,  October  6,  1885. 

“ Editor  of  the  ‘Alarm’ — Dear  Sir:  Please  pay  your  respects  to  the  Pinker- 
“ton  pups  for  their  extreme  kindness  to  labor.  Try  to  have  the  Government 
“of  your  city  do  away  with  its  metropolitan  police  and  employ  the  Pinkerton 
“protectors.  [Of  course  this  is  sarcastic.]  The  inclosed  circular  fell  into 
“the  hands  of  the  Minneapolis  Trades  Assembly,  which  thought  it  not  out  of 
“place  to  pass  it  around.  Please  insert  it  in  your  paper.  Yours  fraternally, 

“T.  W.  Brosnan.” 

This  letter  is  under  the  seal  of  the  Trades  and  Labor  Assembly  of  the  city 
of  Minneapolis,  Minn.  Then,  after  referring  to  the  services  rendered  to  the 
capitalists,  corporations  and  monopolists  during  the  strikes  in  all  parts  of  the 

country  during  the  past  year  the  circular  closes  with  the  following  paragraphs-. 

* 

which  we  give  in  full  as  illustrative  of  the  designs  of  these  secret  enemies 
upon  organized  labor.  Let  every  workingman  ponder  over  the  avowed  pur¬ 
poses  of  these  armies  of  thugs.  It  says : 

“The  Pinkerton  Protective  Patrol  is  connected  with  Pinkerton’s  National 
“Detective  Agency,  and  is  under  the  same  management.  Corporations  or  in¬ 
dividuals  desirous  of  ascertaining  the  feelings  of  their  employes,  whether  they 
“are  likely  to  engage  in  strikes  or  join  any  secret  labor  organization,  such 
“as  the  Knights  of  Labor,  with  a  view  of  compelling  terms  from  corporations 
“or  employers,  can  obtain  upon  application  to  the  superintendent  of  either  of 
“the  offices  a  detective  suitable  to  associate  with  their  employes  and  obtain 
“this  information.” 

This  circular  continues : 

“At  this  time,  wheti  there  is  so  much  dissatisfaction  among  the  labor 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  SPEECH  IN  COURT. 


149 


“classes,  and  secret  labor  societies  are  organizing  throughout  the  United 
“States,  we  suggest  whether  it  would  not  be  well  for  railroad  companies  and 
“other  corporations,  as  well  as  individuals  who  are  extensive  employers,  to 
“keep  a  close  watch  for  designing  men  among  their  own  employes,  who,  in  the 
“interest  of  secret  labor  societies,  are  influencing  their  employes  to  join  these 
“organizations  and  eventually  cause  a  strike.  It  is  frequently  the  case  that, 
“by  taking  a  matter  of  this  kind  in  time,  and  discovering  the  ring-leaders,  and 
“dealing  promptly  with  them  [discovering  the  ring-leaders,  mark  you,  and 
“dealing  promptly  with  them ]  serious  trouble  may  be  avoided  in  the  future. 

“  Yours  respectfully, 


“William  A.  Pinkerton, 
“General  Superintendent  Western  Agency,  Chicago. 

“Rorert  A.  Pinkerton, 

“General  Superintendent  Eastern  Division,  New  York.” 


Now  here  is  a  concern,  an  institution  which  organizes  a  private 
army.  This  private  army  at  the  command  and  under  the  control  of 
those  who  grind  the  faces  of  the  poor,  who  keep  wages  down  to  the 
starvation  point.  This  private  army  can  be  shipped  to  the  place  where 
it  is  wanted.  Now  it  goes  to  the  Hocking  Valley  to  subjugate  the 
starving  miners ;  then  it  is  carried  across  the  plains  to  Nebraska  to 
shoot  the  striking  miners  in  that  region ;  then  it  is  carried  to  the 
East  to  stop  the  strike  of  the  factory  operatives  and  put  them  down. 
The  army  moves  about  to  and  fro  over  the  country,  sneaks  into 
the  labor  organizations,  worms  itself  into  these  labor  societies, 
finds  out,  as  it  says,  who  the  ring-leaders  are  and  deals  promptly 
with  them.  “Promptly/’  your  honor,  “with  them.”  Now,  what 
does  that  mean  ?  It  means  this :  that  some  workingman  who'  has 
got  the  spirit  of  a  man  in  his  organization,  who  gets  up  and  speaks 
out  his  sentiments,  protests,  you  know,  objects,  won’t  have  it,  don’t 
like  these  indignities,  and  says  so;  he  is  set  down  as  a  ring-leader, 
and  these  spies  go  to  work  and  put  up  a  job  on  him.  If  they  can  not 
aggravate  him  and  make  him,  as  the  New  York  Tribune  says,  violate 
the  law  so  they  can  get  hold  of  him,  they  go  to  work  and  put  up  a 
scheme  on  him,  and  concoct  a  conspiracy  that  will  bring  him  into 
Court.  When  he  is  brought  into  Court  he  is  a  wage-slave;  he  has 
got  no  money — who  is  he?  Why,  he  stands  here  at  the  bar  like  a 
culprit.  He  has  neither  position,  wealth,  honor,  nor  friends  to 
defend  him.  What  is  the  result?  Why,  sixty  days  at  the  Bridewell 
or  a  year  in  the  County  jail,  in  State’s  prison,  or  hanged,  as  the 
monopolists  may  determine  him  to  be  more  or  less  dangerous  to 


150  A.  R.  parsons'  SPEECH  in  COURT. 

their  interests.  The  matter  is  dismissed  with  a  wave  of  the  hand. 
The  bailiff  carries  the  “ring  leader”  out.  The  strike  is  suppressed. 
Monopoly  triumphs  and  the  Pinkertons  have  performed  the  work 
for  which  they  receive  their  pay. 

Now,  it  was  these  things  that  caused  the  American  Group  to 
take  an  exceeding  interest  in  this  manner  of  treatment  on  the  part 
of  the  corporations  and  monopolies  of  the  country,  and  we  became 
indignant  about  it.  We  expostulated,  we  denounced  it.  Could  we 
do  otherwise?  We  are  a  part  and  parcel  of  the  miseries  brought 
about  by  this  condition  of  things.  Could  we  do  otherwise  than  ex¬ 
postulate  and  object  to  it  and  resent  it?  Now,  to  illustrate  what 
we  did,  I  read  to  you  from  the  Alarm  of  December  12,  1885,  the 
proceedings  of  the  American  Group,  of  which  I  was  a  member,  as 
a  sample.  I  being  present  at  that  meeting,  and  that  meeting  being 
reported  in  this  paper,  I  hold  that  this  report  of  the  meeting,  being 
put  into  the  Alarm  at  that  time,  is  worthy  of  your  credence  and 
respect,  as  showing  what  our  attitude  was  upon  the  question  of 
force  and  of  arms  and  of  dynamite.  The  article  is  headed  :  “Street 
Riot  Drill.  Mass  Meeting  of  Working  People  held  at  106  East  Ran¬ 
dolph  Street.”  This  was  the  regular  hall  and  place  of  meeting.  The 
article  reads: 

A  large  mass-meeting  of  working  men  and  women  was  held  by  the  Amer¬ 
ican  Group  of  the  International  last  Wednesday  evening  at  their  hall,  106 
East  Randolph  street.  The  subject  under  discussion  was  the  street-riot  drill 
of  the  First  Regiment  on  Thanksgiving  day.  William  Holmes  presided.  The 
principal  speaker  was  Mrs.  Lucy  E.  Parsons.  She  began  by  saying  that  the 
founders  of  this  Republic,  whose  motto  was  that  every  human  being  was  by 
nature  entitled  to  life,  liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness,  would  turn  in 
their  graves  if  they  could  read  and  know  that  a  great  street-riot  drill  was 
now  being  practiced  in  times  of  peace.  "Let  us,”  said  she,  “examine  into  this 
matter  and  ascertain,  if  we  can,  what  this  street-riot  drill  of  the  military  is 
for.  Certainly  not  for  the  purpose  of  fighting  enemies  from  without ;  not  for 
a  foreign  foe,  for  if  this  was  the  case  we  would  be  massing  our  armies  on  the 
sea-coast.  Then  it  must  be  for  our  enemies  within.  Now,  then,  do  a  con¬ 
tented,  prosperous  and  happy  people  leave  their  avocations  and  go  out  upon 
the  streets  to  riot?  Do  young  men  and  maidens  who  are  marrying  and  given 
in  marriage  forsake  the  peaceful  paths  of  life  to  become  a  riotous  mob?  Then 
who  is  the  street- riot  drill  for?  For  whom  is  it  intended?  Who  is  to  be 


A.  R.  PARSONS’  SPEECPI  IN  COURT. 


151 

shot?  When  the  tramp  of  the  military  is  heard,  and  grape  and  canister  are 
sweeping  four  streets  at  a  time,  as  is  contemplated  by  this  new-fangled  drill 
which  was  so  graphically  described  in  the  capitalistic  press  which  gave  an 
account  of  it,  it  is  certainly  not  for  the  purpose  of  shooting  down  the  bour- 
geoise,  the  wealthy,  because  this  same  press  makes  a  stirring  appeal  to  them 
to  contribute  liberally  to  a  military  fund  to  put  them  on  a  good  footing  and 
make  the  militia  twice  as  strong  as  it  is  at  present,  because  their  services 
would  soon  be  needed  to  shoot  down  the  mob.”  The  speaker  then  read  an  ex¬ 
tract  from  a  capitalistic  account  of  the  street-riot  drill  on  Thanksgiving  day. 

Your  honor,  this  meeting  was  held  the  week  following  Thanks¬ 
giving  day,  and  the  drill  took  place  on  Thanksgiving  day.  This 
article  which  is  a  description  of  the  drill  copied  from  a  capitalistic 
paper,  reads  as  follows : 

As  a  conclusion  the  divisions  were  drawn  up  in  line  of  battle  and  there  was 
more  firing  by  companies,  by  file,  and  by  battalion.  The  drill  was  creditable 
to  the  regiment,  and  the  First  will  do  excellent  service  in  the  streets  in  case 
of  necessity.  Opportunities,  however,  are  needed  for  rifle  practice,  and  Col. 
Knox  is  anxious  to  have  a  range  established  as  soon  as  possible.  Instead  of 
400  members,  the  regiment  should  have  800  members  on  its  rolls.  Business 
men  should  take  more  interest  in  the  organization  and  help  put  it  in  the  best 
possible  condition  to  cope  with  a  mob,  for  there  may  be  need  for  its  services  at 
no  distant  day. 

That  article  appeared  either  in  the  Times  or  Tribune  of  the  next 
day.  I  don’t  know  which.  The  speaker  says : 

What  must  be  the  thought  of  the  oppressed  in  foreign  lands  when  they 
hear  the  tramp  of  the  militia  beneath  the  folds  of  the  stars  and  stripes  ?  They 
who  first  flung  this  flag  to  the  breeze  proclaimed  that  beneath  its  folds  the  op¬ 
pressed  of  all  lands  would  find  a  refuge  and  a  haven  and  protection  against 
the  despotism  of  all  lands.  Is  this  the  case  to-day,  when  the  counter-tramp 
of  2,000,000  homeless  wanderers  is  heard  throughout  the  land  of  America — 
men  str.ong  and  able  and  anxious  and  willing  to  work,  that  they  may  pur¬ 
chase  for  themselves  and  their  families  food ;  when  the  cry  of  discontent 
is  heard  from  the  working  classes  everywhere,  and  they  refuse  longer  to  starve 
and  peaceably  accept  a  rifle  diet  and  die  in  misery  according  to  law,  and  order 
is  enforced  by  the  military  drill — is  this  military  drill  for  the  purpose  of 
sweeping  them!  down  as  a  mob  with  grape  and  canister  upon  the  street? 

This  is  the  language  of  the  speaker  at  the  meeting : 

We  working  people  hear  these  ominous  rumblings,  which  create  inquiry 
as  to  their  origin.  A  few  years  ago  we  heard  nothing  of  this  kind ;  but  great 


152 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  SPEECH  IN  COURT. 


changes  have  taken  place  during  the  past  generation.  Charles  Dickens,  who 
visited  America  forty  years  ago,  said  that  what  surprised  him  most  was  the 
general  prosperity  Etnd  equality  of  all  people,  and  that  a  beggar  upon  the  streets 
of  Boston  would  create  as  much  consternation  as  an  angel  with  a  flaming 
sword.  What  of  Boston  to-day?  Last  winter,  said  a  correspondent  of  the 
Chicago  Tribune,  writing  from  that  city,  30,000  persons  were  destitute,  and 
there  were  whole  streets  of  tenement-houses  where  the  possession  of  a  cooking- 
stove  was  regarded  as  a  badge  of  aristocracy,  the  holes  of  which  were  rented 
to  other  less  wealthy  neighbors  for  a  few  pennies  per  hour.  So,  too,  with 
New  York,  Chicago,  and  every  other  industrial  center  in  this  broad  land.  Why 
is  this?  Have  we  had  a  famine?  Has  nature  refused  to  yield  her  harvest? 
These  are  grave  and  serious  questions  for  us,  the  producers  and  sufferers,  to 
consider,  at  least.  Take  a  glance  at  the  wealth  of  this  country.  In  the  past 
twenty  years  it  has  increased  over  $20,000,000,000.  Into  whose  hands  has  the 
wealth  found  its  way?  Certainly  not  into  the  hands  qf  the  producers,  for  if 
it  had  there  would  be  no  need  for  street-riot  drills.  This  country  has  a  popu¬ 
lation  of  55,000,000,  and  a  statistical  compilation  shows  that  there  are  in  the 
cities  of  New  York,  Philadelphia  and  Boston  twenty  mien  who  own  as  their 
private  property  over  $750,000,000,  or  about  one-twenty-sixth  of  the  entire  in¬ 
crease  which  was  produced  by  the  labor  of  the  working  class,  these  twenty  in¬ 
dividuals  being  as  one  in  3,000,000.  In  twenty  years  these  profit-mongers  have 
fleeced  the  people  of  the  enormous  sum  of  $750,000,000 — and  only  three  cities 
and  twenty  robbers  heard  from !  A  Government  that  protects  this  plundering 
of  the  people — a  Government  which  permits  the  people  to  be  degraded  and 
brought  to  misery  in  this  manner — is  a  fraud  upon  the  face  of  it,  no  matter 
under  what  name  it  is  called,  or  what  flag  floats  over  it ;  whether  it  be  a  Re¬ 
public,  a  Monarchy,  or  an  Empire,”  said  the  speaker.  “The  American  flag 
protects  as  much  economic  despotism  as  any  other  flag-  on  the  face  of  the 
earth  to-day  to  the  ratio  of  population.  This  being  the  case,  of  what  does  the 
boasted  freedom  of  the  American  workingman  consist?  Our  fathers  used 
to  sing: 

* 

Come  along,  come  along ;  make  no  delay  ; 

Come  from  every  nation,  come  from  every  way  ; 

Come  along,  come  along  ;  don’t  be  alarmed — 

Uncle  Sam  is  rich  enough  to  give  us  all  a  farm. 

The  “stars  and  stripes”  in  those  days  floated  upon  every  water  as  the  em¬ 
blem  of  the  free,  but  to-day  it  obeys  only  the  command  and  has  become  the 
ensign  of  monopoly  and  corporations,  of  those  who  grind  the  face  of  the  poor 
and  rob  and  enslave  the  laborer.  Could  Russia  do  more  than  drill  in  its  streets 
to  kill  the  people?  But  alas!  Americans  creep  and  crawl  at  the  foot  of  wealth 
and  adore  the  golden  calf.  Can  a  man  amass  millions  without  despoiling  the 
labor  of  others?  We  all  know  he  can  not.  American  workingmen  seem  to  be 
degenerating.  They  do  not  seem  to  understand  what  liberty  and  freedom 


A.  R.  parsons'  speech  in  court. 


153 

really  consist  of.  They  shout  themselves  hoarse  on  election  day — for  what? 
For  the  miserable  privilege  of  choosing  their  master;  which  man  shall  be  their 
boss  and  rule  over  them;  for  the  privilege  of  choosing  just  who  are  the  bosses 
and  who  shall  govern  them.  Great  privilege !  These  Americans — sovereigns 
— millions  of  them  do  not  know  where  they  could  get  a  bed  or  a  supper.  Your 
ballot — what  is  it  good  for  ?  Can  a  man  vote  himself  bread,  or  clothes,  or  shel¬ 
ter,  or  work?  In  what  does  the  American  wage-slave’s  freedom  consist?  The 
poor  are  the  slaves  of  the  rich  everywhere.  The  ballot  is  neither  a  protection 
against  hunger  nor  against  the  bullets  of  the  military.  Bread  is  freedom,  free¬ 
dom  bread.  The  ballot  is  no  protection  against  the  bullets  of  those  who  are 
practicing  the  street-riot  drills  in  Chicago.  The  ballot  is  worthless  to  the  in¬ 
dustrial  slaves  under  these  conditions.  The  palaces  of  the  rich  overshadow 
the  homes  or  huts  of  the  poor,  and  we  say,  with  Victor  Hugo,  that  the  paradise 
of  the  rich  is  made  out  of  the  hells  of  the  poor.  The  whole  force  of  the  organ¬ 
ized  power  of  the  Government  is  thrown  against  the  workers,  whom  the  so- 
called  better  class  denominate  a  mob.  Now,  when  the  workers  of  America 
refuse  to  starve  according  to  “law  and  order,”  and  when  they  begin  to  think 
and  act,  why,  the  street-riot  drill  begins.  The  enslavers  of  labor  see  the  com¬ 
ing  storm.  They  are  determined,  cost  what  it  may,  to  drill  these  people  and 
make  them  their  slaves  by  holding  in  their  possession  the  means  of  life  as  their 
property,  and  thus  enslave  the  producers.  Workingmen — we  mean  the  women, 
too — arise !  Prepare  to  make  and  determine  successfully  to  establish  the  right 
to  live  and  partake  of  the  bounties  to  which  all  are  equally  entitled.  Agitate, 
organize,  prepare  to  defend  your  life,  your  liberty,  your  happiness  against  the 
murderers  who  are  practicing  the  street-riot  drill  on  Thanksgiving  day. 

’Tis  the  shame  of  the  land  that  the  earnings  of  toil 

Should  gorge  the  god  Mammon,  the  tyrant,  the  spoiler. 

Every  foot  has  a  logical  right  to  the  soil, 

And  the  product  of  toil  is  the  meed  of  the  toiler. 

The  hands  that  disdain 
Honest  industry’s  stain 

Have  no  share  in  its  honor,  no>  right  to  its  gain, 

And  the  falsehood  of  wealth  or  worth  shall  not  be 

In  “the  home  of  the  brave  and  the  land  of  the  free.” 

Short  addresses  were  made  by  Comrades  Fielden,  Dr.  Taylor,  William 
Snyder,  William  Holmes,  and  others.  This  concluded  the  meeting  after  criti¬ 
cisms. 

Now,  I  challenge  your  honor  to  find  a  sentence  or  an  utter¬ 
ance  in  that  meeting — and  that  is  one  of  the  fullest  reported  of  the 
many  meetings  held  by  the  American  Group  for  public  discussion  of 
such  matters  as  the  Thanksgiving  drill  of  the  First  Regiment — I 
challenge  you  to  find  a  single  word  or  utterance  there  that  is  un- 


154 


A.  R.  PARSONS*  SPEECH  IN  COURT. 


lawful,  that  is  contrary  to  the  constitution,  or  that  is  in  violation  of 
free  speech,  or  that  is  in  violation  of  free  press,  or  that  is  in  violation 
of  public  assembly  or  of  the  right  of  self-defense.  And  that  is  our 
position,  and  has  been  all  the  while.  Imagine  for  the  moment  the 
First  Regiment  practicing  the  street-riot  drill  as  it  was  described — 
learning  how  to  sweep  four  streets  from  the  four  corners  at  once. 
Who?  The  Tribune  and  Times  say  “the  mob.”  Who  are  the  mob? 
Why,  dissatisfied  people,  dissatisfied  workingmen  and  women ; 
people  who  are  working  for  starvation  wages,  people  who  are  on 
a  strike  for  better  pay — these  are  the  mob.  They  are  always  the 
mob.  That  is  what  the  riot-drill  is  for. 

Suppose  a  case  that  occurs.  The  First  Regiment  is  out  with 
1,000  men,  armed  with  the  latest  improved  Winchester  rifles.  Here 
are  the  mobs ;  here  are  the  Knights  of  Labor  and  the  trades  unions, 
and  all  the  organizations,  without  arms.  They  have  no  treasury, 
and  a  Winchester  rifle  costs  $18.  They  cannot  purchase  those 
things.  We  cannot  organize  an  army.  It  takes  capital  to  organize 
an  army.  It  takes  as  much  money  to  organize  an  army  as  to  or¬ 
ganize  industry,  as  to  build  railroads ;  therefore  it  is  impossible 
for  the  working  class  to  organize  and  buy  Winchester  rifles.  What 
can  they  do?  What  must  they  do? 

Your  honor,  the  dynamite  bomb,  I  am  told,  costs  6  cents.  It  can 
be  made  by  anybody.  The  Winchester  rifle  costs -$i8.  That  is  the 
difference.  Am  I  to  be  blamed  for  that?  Am  I  to  be  hanged  for 
saying  this?  Am  I  to  be  destroyed  for  this?  What  have  I  done? 
Go  dig  up  the  ashes  of  the  man  who  invented  this  thing.  Find  his 
ashes  and  scatter  them  to  the  winds  because  he  gave  this  power  to 
the  world.  It  was  not  me.  Gen.  Sheridan — he  is  the  commander- 
in-chief  of  the  United  States  army,  and  in  his  report  to  the  Presi¬ 
dent  and  Congress  two  years  ago  he  had  occasion  to  speak  of  the 
possible  labor  troubles  that  may  occur  in  the  country,  and  what  did 
he  say?  In  his  report  he  said  that  dynamite  was  a  lately  discov¬ 
ered  article  of  tremendous  power,  and  such  was  its  nature  that 
people  could  carry  it  around  in  the  pockets  of  their  clothing  with 
perfect  safety  to  themselves,  and  by  means  of  it  they  could  destroy 
whole  cities  and  whole  armies.  This  was  Gen.  Sheridan.  That  is 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  SPEECH  IN  COURT. 


155 


what  he  said.  We  quoted  that  language  and  referred  to  it.  I  want 
to  say  another  word  about  dynamite  before  I  pass  on  to  something 
else. 

I  am  called  a  dynamiter.  Why?  Did  I  ever  use  dynamite?  No. 
Did  I  ever  have  any?  No.  Why,  then,  am  I  called  a  dynamiter? 
Listen,  and  I  will  tell  you.  Gunpowder  in  the  fifteenth  century 
marked  an  era  in  the  world’s  history.  It  was  the  downfall  of  the 
mail  armor  of  the  knight,  the  freebooter,  and  the  robber  of  that 
period.  It  enabled  the  victims  of  the  highway  robbers  to  stand  off 
at  a  distance  in  a  safe  place  and  defend  themselves  by  the  use  of 
gunpowder  and  make  a  ball  enter  and  pierce  into  the  flesh  of  their 
robbers  and  destroyer.  Gunpowder  came  as  a  democratic  instru¬ 
ment.  It  came  as  a  republican  institution,  and  the  effect  was  that 
it  immediately  began  to  equalize  and  bring  about  an  equilibrium  of 
power.  There  was  less  power  in  the  hands  of  the  nobility  after 
that;  less  power  in  the  hands  of  the  king;  less  power  in  the  hands 
of  those  who  would  plunder  and  degrade  and  destroy  the  people  after 
that. 

So  today  dynamite  comes  as  the  emancipator  of  man  from  the 
domination  and  enslavement  of  his  fellow  man.  [The  Judge  showed 
symptoms  of  impatience.]  Bear  with  me  now.  Dynamite  is  the 
diffusion  of  power.  It  is  democratic ;  it  makes  everybody  equal. 
Gen.  Sheridan  says :  “Arms  are  worthless.”  They  are  worthless  in 
the  presence  of  this  instrument.  Nothing  can  meet  it.  The  Pinker¬ 
tons,  the  police,  the  militia  are  absolutely  worthless  in  the  .presence 
of  dynamite.  They  can  do  nothing  with  the  people  at  ill.  It  is 
the  equilibrium.  It  is  the  annihilator.  It  is  the  disseminator  of 
authority;  it  is  the  dawn  of, peace;  it  is  the  end  of  war,  because 
war  cannot  exist  unless  there  is  somebody  to  make  war  upon,  and 
dynamite  makes  that  unsafe,  is  undesirable,  and  absolutely  impos¬ 
sible.  It  is  a  peace-maker ;  it  is  man’s  best  and  last  friend ;  it  eman¬ 
cipates  the  world  from  the  domineering  and  the  few  over  the  many, 
because  all  government,  in  the  last  resort,  is  violence ;  all  law,  in 
the  last  resort,  is  force.  Force  is  the  law  of  the  universe ;  force  is 
the  law  of  nature,  and  this  newly  discovered  force  makes  all  men 
equal,  and  therefore  free.  It  is  idle  to  talk  of  rights  when  one  does 


A,  £.  PARSONS*  SPEECH  IN  COURT. 


156 

not  possess  the  power  to  enforce  them.  Science  has  now  given  every 
human  being  that  power.  It  is  proposed  by  the  prosecution  here  to 
take  me  by  force  and  strangle  me  on  the  gallows  for  these  things  I 
have  said,  for  these  expressions.  Now,  force  is  the  last  resort  of 
tyrants ;  it  is  the  last  resort  of  despots  and  of  oppressors,  and  he 
who  would  strangle  another  because  that  other  does  not  believe  as 
he  would  have  him,  he  who  will  destroy  another  because  that  other 
will  not  do  as  he  says,  that  man  is  a  despot  and  a  tyrant. 

Now,  I  speak  plainly.  Does  it  follow,  because  I  hold  these 
views,  that  I  committed  or  had  anything  to  do>  with  the  commission 
of  that  act  at  the  Haymarket?  D'oes  that  follow?  Why,  you  might 
just  as  consistently  charge  Gen.  Phil  Sheridan  with  the  act,  and  for 
the  same  reason,  for  while  he  did  not  go  into  the  matter  perhaps  as 
extensively  in  his  encomium  upon  dynamite  as  I  have  done,  yet  he 
furnished  me  the  text  from  which  I  have  drawn  my  knowledge  of 
this  thing.  But,  you  say,  my  speeches  were  sometimes  extrava¬ 
gant,  unlawful.  During  the  discussion  of  the  question  of  the  ex¬ 
tension  of  chattel  slavery  into  the  new  Territories,  into  Kansas  and 
the  West,  while  Charles  Sumner  was  yet  a  member  of  the  United 
States  Senate,  and  that  gallant  man  stood  as  the  champion  of  free¬ 
dom  upon  that  floor,  he  was  expostulated  with  on  one  occasion 
and  reprimanded  by  a  friend,  who  said  to  him :  “Sumner,  you  are 
not  expedient ;  you  must  have  more  policy  about  what  you  say ; 
you  should  not  express  yourself  in  this  manner ;  you  should  not  be 
so  denunciatory  and  fanatical  against  slavery,  this  enslavement. 
I  know  it  is  wrong;  I  know  it  should  be  denounced,  but  keep  inside 
of  the  law ;  keep  inside  of  the  constitution.” 

Your  honor,  I  quote  from  the  speech  of  Charles  Sumner,  that 
great  American,  in  answer  and  in  reply  to  that  remark.  Said  he: 

Anything  for  human  rights  is  constitutional.  No  learning  in  books,  no 
skill  acquired  in  Courts,  no  sharpness  of  forensic  dealings,  no  cunning  in 
splitting  hairs  can  impair  the  vigor  thereof.  This  is  the  supreme  law  of  the 
land,- anything  in  the  constitution  or  laws  of  any  State  to  the  contrary  not¬ 
withstanding. 

I  have  never  said  anything  that  could  equal  that  in  lawlessness.  I 
never  was  as  lawless  in  my  expression  as  that.  Go,  gentlemen  of 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  SPEECH  IN  COURT. 


157 


the  prosecution,  dig  up  the  ashes  of  Sumner  and  scatter  them  in 
disgrace  to  the  wind,  tear  down  the  monument  that  the  American 
people  have  erected  to  his  honor,  and  erect  thereon  some  emblem 
of  your  contempt. 

! 

What  are  the  facts  about  the  Haymarket  meeting?  The  meet¬ 
ing  at  107  Fifth  avenue  had  already  been  called,  and  at  half-past 
7  o'clock  I  left  home  with  my  wife,  Mrs.  Holmes,  and  the  children. 
We  got  to  Halsted  street.  Two  reporters  seeing  me  thought  there 
was  a  chance  to  get  an  item  and  came  over  to  me — the  Times  man 
and  the  Tribune  man,  I  forget  their  names. 

“Hello,  Parsons,  what  is  the  news?”  says  one. 

“I  don’t  know  anything.” 

“Going  to  be  a  meeting  here  to-night?” 

“Yes,  I  guess  so.” 

“Going  to  speak?” 

“No.” 

“Where  are  you  going?” 

“I  have  got  another  meeting  011  hand  to-night.” 

And  some  playful  remark  was  made.  I  slapped  one  of  them  on 
the  back.  I  was  quite  well  acquainted  with  the  men  and  we  made 
one  or  two  brief  remarks,  and — as  they  testified  on  the  stand — I 
got  on  the  car  right  then  and  there  with  my  wife  and  two  children, 
in  company  with  Mrs.  Holmes.  I  took  the  car,  and  they  saw  that. 
I  went  down  to  Fifth  avenue.  When  I  got  down  there  I  found  four 
or  five  other  ladies  there,  and  about — well,  probably,  twelve  or  fif¬ 
teen — men.  It  was  about  8  130  o’clock  when  we  opened — I  guess  it 
was.  We  staid  there  about  half  an  hour.  We  settled  the  busi¬ 
ness.  About  the  time  we  were  through  with  it  a  committee  came 
from  the  Haymarket  saying:  “Nobody  is  over  there  but  Spies. 
There  is  an  awful  big  crowd,  3,000  or  4,000  people.  For  God’s 
sake  send  somebody  over.  Come  over,  Parsons ;  come  over,  Fiel- 
den.”  Well,  we  went  there.  The  meeting  was  adjourned  and  we 
all  went  over  there  together — all  of  us ;  my  wife,  Mrs.  Holmes,  two 
other  ladies,  and  my  two  little  children,  went  over  to  the  Hay- 


1 58  A.  R.  PARSONS'  SPEECH  IN  COURT. 

market  meeting.  And  these  ladies  sat  ten  feet  behind  the  wagon 
from  which  I  spoke. 

Your  honor,  is  it  possible  that  a  man  would  go  into  the  dyna¬ 
mite-bomb  business  under  those  conditions  and  those  circum¬ 
stances  ?  It  is  incredible.  It  is  beyond  human  nature  to  believe  such 
a  thing  possible,  absolutely. 

The  verdict  was  against  Socialism,  as  said  by  the  Chicago 
Times  the  day  after  the  verdict. 

“In  the  opinion  of  many  thoughtful  men,  the  labor  question  has 
reached  a  point  where  blood-letting  has  become  necessary,”  says  the 
Chicago'  Iron-Monger. 

“The  execution  of  the  death  penalty  upon  the  Socialist  male¬ 
factors  in  Chicago  will  be  in  its  effect  the  execution  of  the  death 
penalty  upon  the  Socialistic  propaganda  in  this  country.  The  ver¬ 
dict  of  death  pronounced  by  a  Chicago  jury  and  court  against  these 
Socialist  malefactors  in  Chicago  is  the  verdict  of  the  American 
people  against  the  crime  called  Socialism,’’  says  the  Chicago  Times. 
By  the  American  people  the  Times  means  the  monopolists. 

In  more  familiar  words,  as  used  heretofore  by  the  Times,  “other 
workingmen  will  take  warning  from  their  fate,  and  learn  a  valuable 
lesson.”  The  Times  in  1878  advised  that  “handgrenades  (bombs) 
should  be  thrown  among  the  striking  sailors,”  who  were  striving  to 
obtain  higher  wages,  “as  by  such  treatment  they  would  be  taught 
a  valuable  lesson,  and  other  strikers  would  take  warning  from  their 
fate.”  So  it  seems,  “handgrenades  for  strikers,”  and  “the  gallows  for 
Socialists,”  are  recommended  by  the  organ  of  monopoly  as  a  terror 
to  both. 

^ 

'I'  'J' 

The  jury  was  a  packed  one;  the  jury  was  composed  of  men  who 
arrogate  to  themselves  the  right  to  dictate  to  and  rob  the  wage¬ 
workers,  whom  they  regard  as  their  hired  men ;  they  regard  working¬ 
men  as  their  inferiors  and  not  “gentlemen.”*  Thus  a  jury  was 
obtained,  whose  business  it  was  to  convict  us  of  Anarchy  whether  they 


*The  jury  in  an  interview  spoke  of  themselves  as  a  jury  of  ‘‘gentlemen.” 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  SPEECH  IN  COURT. 


159 


found  any  proof  of  murder  or  not.  The  whole  trial  was  conducted  to 
condemn  Anarchy.  “Anarchy  is  on  trial,”  said  Mr.  Ingham.  “Hang 
these  eight  men  and  save  our  institutions,”  shouted  Grinnell.  “These 
are  the  leaders ;  make  an  example  of  them,”  yelled  the  prosecution 
in  addressing  the  Court  and  jury.  Yes,  we  are  Anarchists,  and  for 
this,  your  honor,  we  stand  condemned.  Can  it  be  that  men  are  to 
suffer  death  for  their  opinions?  “These  eight  defendants,”  said  the 
State's  Attorney  to  the  jury,  “were  picked  out  and  indicted  by  the 
grand  jury.  They  are  no  more  guilty  than  are  the  thousands  who 
follow  them.  They  were  picked  out  because  they  were  leaders. 
Convict  them  and  our  society  is  safe,”  shouted  the  prosecution. 
And  this  is  in  America,  the  land  for  which  our  fathers  fought  and 
freely  shed  their  blood  that  we,  their  posterity,  might  enjoy  the 
right  of  free  speech,  free  opinion,  free  press,  and  unmolested  as¬ 
semblage. 

*1;  4;  4?  4*  4?  »!»  4* 

'j' 

When  I  saw  the  day  fixed  for  the  opening  of  this  trial,  knowing 
I  was  an  innocent  man,  and  also  feeling  that  it  was  my  duty  to 
come  forward  and  share  whatever  fate  had  in  store  for  my  com¬ 
rades,  and  also  stand,  if  need  be,  on  the  scaffold,  and  vindicate 
the  rights  of  labor,  the  cause  of  liberty,  and  the  relief  of  the  op¬ 
pressed,  I  returned.  How  did  I  return?  It  is  interesting,  but  it 
will  take  time  to  relate  it,  and  I  will  not  state  it.  I  ran  the  gauntlet. 
I  went  from  Waukesha  to  Milwaukee.  I  took  the  St.  Paul  train 
in  the  morning  at  the  Milwaukee  depot  and  came  to  Chicago; 
arrived  here  at  8:30,  I  suppose,  in  the  morning.  Went  to  the  house 
of  my  friend,  Mrs.  Ames,  on  Morgan  street.  Sent  for  my  wife  and 
had  a  talk  with  her.  I  sent  word  to  Capt.  Black  that  I  was  here 
and  prepared  to  surrender.  He  sent  word  back  to  me  that  he  was 
ready  to  receive  me.  I  met  him  at  the  threshold  of  this  building 
and  we  came  up  here  together.  I  stood  in  the  presence  of  this 
Court.  I  have  nothing,  even  now,  to  regret. 

[Note. — Mr.  Parsons’  ’  speech  was  eight  hours  in  delivery,  to-wit:  two 
hours  on  Friday  and  six  hours  on  Saturday.  There  are  only  given  here  ex¬ 
tracts  from  Mr.  Parsons’  able  speech  before  Judge  Gary  as  to  why  sentence  of 
death  should  not  be  pronounced  against  him.  The  speech  is  in  print  and  can 
be  had.] 


ALBERT  R.  PARSONS’  CASE  IN  FULL. 

Taken  from  the  Official  Record. 

Mr.  Parsons  had1  just  been  in  Cincinnati  and  returned  to  Chicago 
on  May  4.  [A.  313,  Vol.  N.,  109.]  He  caused  a  notice  calling  a  meet¬ 
ing  at  107  Fifth  avenue  on  the  South  Side,  on  Monday  evening,  May 
4,  to  be  inserted  in  the  Daily  News.  He  left  home  in  company  with 
his  wife,  Mrs.  Holmes,  a  lady  friend,  and  his  two  little  children. 
On  his  way  to  that  meeting  he  met  Mr.  Owen,  a  witness  for  the 
State,  who  says  [A.  124,  Vol.  K.,  200,  201]  :  “I  saw  Parsons  at  the 
corner  of  Randolph  and  Halsted  streets  shortly  before  8  o’clock.  I 
asked  him  where  the  meeting  was  to  be  held;  he  said  he  did  not 
know  anything  about  the  meeting.  I  asked  him  whether  he  was 
going  to  speak  and  he  said  no,  he  was  going  to  the  South  Side. 
Mrs.  Parsons  and  some  children  came  up  just  then  and  Mr.  Parsons 
stopped  an  Indiana  street  car,  slapped  me  familiarly  on  the  back, 
and  asked  me  if  I  was  armed.  I  said:  “No;  have  you  any  dynamite 
about  you?’  He  laughed,  and  Mrs.  Parsons  said:  ‘He  is  a  very 
dangerous  looking  man,  isn’t  he?’  and  they  got  on  a  car  and  went 
east.  I  believe  Mr.  Heineman  was  with  me.”  [A.  126,  Vol.  K.,  233.] 

A  request  for  speakers  at  the  Haymarket  meeting  was  sent  over 
to  the  meeting  on  the  South  Side.  That  request  found  Parsons.  He 
went  from  there  to  the  Haymarket,  on  the  West  Side,  to  speak. 

Mr.  Parsons  spoke  three-quarters  of  an  hour.  Mr.  English,  the 
Tribune  reporter,  was  instructed  by  his  employers  to  take  only  the 
most  inflammatory  utterances  and  consequently  was  on  the  watch 
for  such.  His  account  of  Mr.  Parsons’  speech  occupies  but  a  single 
page  of  the  record. 

Mayor  Harrison,  who  heard  Parsons’  speech  and  attended  the 
meeting  for  the  purpose  of  dispersing  it  if  anything  should  occur  to 
require  interference,  left  the  meeting  at  the  end  of  that  speech  and 
told  Capt.  Bonfield,  at  the  station,  that  “nothing  had  occurred  yet, 


leo 


A.  R.  PARSONS'  CASE  IN  FULL. 


161 


or  looked  likely  to  occur,  to  require  interference,  and  that  he  had 
better  issue  orders  to  his  reserves  at  the  other  stations  to  go  home,” 
whereupon  Harrison  himself  went  home.  [A.  174  and  175,  Vol.  L., 
29,  31,  and  47.] 

After  Mr.  Parsons,  Mr.  Fielden  spoke  twenty  minutes.  After 
Mr.  Fielden  had  been  speaking  some  ten  minutes  it  is  admitted  by 
all  the  witnesses  that  a  cloud,  accompanied  by  a  cold  wind,  swept 
over  the  northern  sky,  and  thereupon  Parsons  interrupted  Fielden, 
suggesting  an  adjournment  of  the  meeting  to  Zepf’s  hall,  a  building 
situated  at  the  northeast  corner  of  Lake  and  Desplaines  streets  and 
a  block  north  from  the  Haymarket  meeting.  To  this  somebody  in  the 
audience  replied  that  the  hall  was  occupied  by  a  meeting  of  the 
Furniture  Workers’  Union,  and  thereupon  Fielden  suggested  that  he 
would  be  through  in  a  few  minutes  and  then  they  would  all  go  home. 
[A.  314,  Vol  N.,  1 13.] 

This  evidence  is  established  by  witnesses  for  the  State  and  the 
defence. 

About  one-half  of  the  audience  dispersed  upon  Mr.  Parsons’ 
motion  and  Mr.  Fielden’s  suggestion.  Mr.  Parsons  got  down  from 
the  wagon  and  went  a  few  feet  north,  where  his  family  and  Mrs. 
Holmes  were  seated,  assisted  them  down,  and  they  went  together 
to  Zepf’s  hall,  and  were  there  when  the  bomb  exploded.  [A.  224, 
238,  Vol  M.,  125.] 

This  is  all  the  testimony  connecting  Mr.  Parsons  in  any  way 
with  the  Haymarket  meeting. 


PART  VII. 


CHAPTER  I. 

WHAT  IS  AN  ACCESSORY? 

Leonard  Sweet  Quotes  from  “Wharton's  Criminal  Law”  and 
Clearly  Points  Out  What  Must  Be  Proven  to  Secure  a 
Conviction  as  Accessory  Before  the  Fact — “What  Human 
Judge  Can  Determine  tfiat  There  Is  Such  a  Necessary 
Connection  Between  One  Man's  Advice  and  Another  Man's 
Action  as  to  Make  the  Former  the  Cause  of  the  Latter?” 

From  Brief  of  Leonard  Szvett  before  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State 

of  Illinois. 

The  conviction  of  these  defendants  was  had  without  any  proof 
of  a  corpus  delicti.  What  is  a  corpus  delicti?  Simply  the  body  or 
essence  of  the  wrong.  What  is  the  corpus  delicti  or  body  of  the 
wrong  in  the  case  of  a  principal  charged  with  homicide  ?  It  is  that 
the  defendant  did  the  criminal  act.  What  is  the  corpus  delicti  in  ref¬ 
erence  to  an  accessory  ?  It  is  that  he  aided  and  abetted  in  the  killing. 
Wharton’s  Crim.  Ev.,  3,325,  and  note  as  follows : 

The  corpus  delicti,  the  proof  which  is  essential  to  sustain  a  conviction, 
consists  of  a  criminal  act,  and  to  sustain  a  conviction  there  must  be  proof  of 
the  defendant’s  guilty  agency  in  the  production  of  such  act. 

The  latter  feature,  namely,  criminal  agency,  is  often  lost  sight  of,  but  is 
as  essential  as  the  object  itself  of  the  crime. 

Acts  in  some  shape  are  essential  to  the  corpus  delicti,  so  far  as  concerns 
the  guilt  of  the  party  accused.  A.  may  have  designed  the  death  of  the  de¬ 
ceased,  yet  if  that  death  has  been  caused  by  another  A.,  no  matter  how  morally 
guilty,  is  not  amenable  to  the  penalties  of  the  law,  if  he  has  done  and  advised 
nothing  in  respect  to  the  death. 


163 


164 


WHAT  IS  AN  ACCESSORY? 


In  this  case  there  is  not  the  slightest  evidence  of  corpus  delicti 
as  to  any  of  the  defendants,  except  in  the  testimony  of  Gilmer, 
which  is  completely  overthrown. 

Wharton,  in  his  Criminal  Law,  ninth  edition,  Vol.  I.,  section  226, 
note  entitled  “Modes  of  Instigation,”  says : 

Counseling,  to  come  up  to  the  definition,  must  be  special.  Mere  general 
counsel,  for  instance,  that  all  property  should  be  regarded  and  held  as  com¬ 
mon,  will  not  constitute  the  party  offering  it  accessory  before  the  fact  to  a 
larceny ;  free-love  publications  will  not  constitute  their  authors  technically 
parties  to  sexual  offenses  which  these  publications  may  have  stimulated. 
Several  youthful  highway  robbers  have  said  they  were  led  into  crime  by 
reading  “Jack  Sheppard,”  but  the  author  of  Jack  Sheppard  was  not  an  acces¬ 
sory  before  the  fact  to  the  robberies  to  which  he  thus  added  impulse.  What 
human  Judge  can  determine  that  there  is  such  a  necessary  connection  between 
one  man’s  advice  and  another  man’s  action  as  to  make  the  former  the  cause 
of  the  latter? 

I  know  of  no  more  appropriate  illustration  of  the  legal  status 
and  liability  of  the  defendants  in  relation  to  their  intemperate 
utterances,  or  in  relation  to  their  liability  under  all  the  evidence, 
than  to  recall  the  history  of  the  formation  of  the  Republican  party. 
It  was  a  party  which  had  for  its  object  the  reformation  of  the  civil 
society  and  the  civil  institutions  in  this  country.  The  most  radical 
of  its  leaders  characterized  the  constitution  of  the  United  States  as 
“a  league  with  hell  ”  Underground  railroads  were  everywhere  estab¬ 
lished  leading  from  Mason’s  and  Dixon’s  line  to  Canada,  and  people 
conspired  to  do  the  act,  contrary  to  the  constitution  and  the  laws  of 
the  United  States,  of  aiding  and  abetting  the  slave  in  his  escape. 
If  he  were  arrested  by  the  officers  of  the  law,  whose  duty  it  was 
to  arrest  him,  people  were  guilty  of  a  conspiracy  to  rescue  him,  and 
they  often  committed  the  overt  act  of  such  unlawful  conspiracy  by 
actually  rescuing  him  and  aiding  him  in  his  escape.  The  storm 
finally  culminated,  and  by  and  by  old  John  Brown,  caught  by 
the  inspiration  of  the  occasion,  committed  an  offense  against  the 
laws  of  Virginia  at  Harper’s  Ferry. 

The  question  arising  is :  Was  everybody  who  made  speeches  for 
this  party  guilty  of  the  offense  of  which  John  Brown  was  convicted? 
The  distinction  exists  in  that  case  as  in  this.  Everybody  who  knew 


WHAT  IS  AN  ACCESSORY? 


165 

John  Brown’s  purposes,  and,  knowing  them,  aided,  assisted,  and 
abetted  him,  were  equally  guilty  with  him.  But  those  who  did  not 
know  his  purposes,  and  who  did  not  aid  and  abet  him  in  his  unlaw¬ 
ful  act,  were  not  guilty,  however  intemperate  may  have  been  their 
speeches,  and  whatever  may  have  been  their  general  advice. 

The  other  side  of  this  question,  and  the  side  taken  by  the  prose¬ 
cution  and  the  Court,  is  to  say  that  John  Brown’s  raid  was  a 
natural  outgrowth  of  the  Republican  party.  If  there  had  been  no 
Republican  party  there  would  have  been  no  John  Brown’s  raid,  and, 
therefore,  that  all  Republicans  who  made  speeches  and  believed  in 
the  utopian  idea  of  a  change  in  society  for  the  benefit  of  a  class 
were  like  the  Anarchists  and  were  particeps  criminis  with  old  John 
Brown  and  ought  to  be  hung. 

The  days  come  and  go  and  this  brief  must  be  filed  to-morrow, 
but  it  is  not  done.  “The  little  foxes  that  spoil  the  vines”  have  got 
their  work  in  every  day  and  have  rendered  greater  progress  impos¬ 
sible.  Therefore,  I  must  refer  your  honors  to  the  able  brief  pre¬ 
pared  by  Mr.  William  P.  Black  and  Messrs.  Salomon  &  Zeisler  upon 
the  two  questions  of  the  empanelment  of  the  jury  and  the  instruc¬ 
tions  of  the  Court.  , 

The  considerate  portions  of  the  country  want  the  plowshare 
of  justice  held  with  firm  but  intelligent  hand,  and  that  it  plow 
straight  through — that  the  defendants  should  be  hanged  if  guilty  of 
murder,  but  not  hanged  if  not  guilty  of  murder.  The  man  at  his 
business,  over-anxious  and  over-worked,  sees  in  the  movement  of 
these  people  simply  an  interruption,  and  he  wants  them  all  hanged 
to  get  rid  of  the  question ;  the  timid  lady  shivers  with  fear,  and 
says :  “Why,  they  will,  if  released,  throw  bombs  through  our  win¬ 
dows  and  blow  up  our  houses.”  The  hard-hearted  and  exacting 
want  to  continue  their  oppressions  and  exactions,  and  they  want 
them  all  hanged.  All  these  want  them  hanged — not  for  the  reason 
that  it  is  known  they  have  been  guilty  of  murder,  but  because  the 
fixed  order  of  things  by  these  agitators  is  disturbed. 

Don’t  Carnegie’s  men  at  Pittsburg  get  more  a  day  than  KruppT 
men  in  Europe?  Yes,  and  Krupp’s  men  in  Europe  get  more  than 
men  in  Central  Africa.  All  mankind  are  moving  to  a  higher  plane, 


1 66  WHAT  IS  AN  ACCESSORY? 

4 

and  it  is  harder  and  more  difficult  to  grind  the  face  of  the  poor  than 
it  was  formerly. 

The  labor  that  moves  the  world  may  not,  as  a  class,  be  the 
most  intelligent.  It  may  not  know  how.  Like  a  man  fastened  face 
downward  anci  stretched  out  to  stakes  on  the  grass  of  the  western 
plains  by  Indians,  he  bears  it  until  his  nervous  system  gives  way, 
when  he  will  shriek  and  struggle,  knowing  there  is  a  sore  place 
somewhere. 

\j»  4*  st» 

'p  »f»  »{»  ^ 

Virginia  wanted  John  Brown  hanged  that  she  might  fold  her 
arms  and  sleep  in  peace.  She  did  hang  him  and  his  companions. 
But  she  did  not  sleep  in  peace. 

4*  4^  xi*’  4^  4^  4* 

4'  'p  4*  4*  4* 

I  have  never  before  seen  the  hard  hand  of  toil  respond  with  its 
quarters  of  a  dollar  and  little  gifts  here,  there,  and  everywhere,  and 
with  such  wide-spread  sympathy,  until  the  poverty-stricken  defend¬ 
ants  have  larger  and  readier  means  of  defense  than  any  persons  I 
have  ever  defended  or  known.  Criminals,  under  such  circumstances, 
would  have  shared  the  fate  of  the  neglected  and  the  poor.  What 
does  this  mean? 

We  all  remember  the  celebrated  controversy  between  the  wind 
and  the  sun,  told  by  old  Aesop,  in  which  they  two  entered  into  a 

debate  as  to  which  was  the  stronger,  and  it  was  to  be  decided  by 

an  attack  upon  a  traveler  upon  whom  they  were  looking  down, 
and  the  victor  should  be  he  who  could  make  him  take  off  a  great 
coat  he  was  wearing  first.  The  wind  tried  it,  and  blew  about  him 
and  made  him  shiver  and  his  coat-tails  flutter,  but  he  only  hugged 
it  the  closer.  The  sun  finally  took  its  turn.  It  came  out  with  its 
warm  and  peaceful  rays.  It  warmed  the  globe  and  the  man,  and 

very  soon  he  began  to  wipe  the  sweat  from  his  brow  and  pulled  off 

his  coat.  May  be  we  can  learn  something  from  this  simple  story, 
which  has  come  down  the  ages  from  a  period  in  the  world’s  history 
in  which  labor  was  at  complete  rest. 

The  truth  is,  a  man  wants  more  than  he  used  to  want.  He 
may  labor,  he  may  live  in  a  hut,  but  whenever  he  sees  other  people 


WHAT  IS  Atf  ACCESSORY? 


167 


have  comforts  he  wants  them  for  himself.  We  never  want  and 
long  for  what  we  do  not  know  to  exist.  The  wealthy  cannot  have 
luxuries  without  letting  the  poor  know  it.  A  workman  cannot 
walk  at  night  by  the  house  well  warmed  and  full  of  brightness  and 
good  cheer  without  wishing  it  were  his  own  home.  The  wife  of 
the  workman  will  see  the  wife  of  his  employer  and  envy  her.  His 
daughter  cannot,  as  she  works  at  the  market  price  of  labor,  but 
sigh  “for  something  better  than  she  has  known,”  and  think,  as  she 
drudges  to  her  sewing  machine,  how  much  better  it  would  be  to  go 
to  a  piano.  Humanity  lies  in  a  pyramid,  and  every  man  and  woman 
envies  the  man  or  woman  next  higher.  Even  the  apex  man  is  not 
content.  “Uneasy  lies  the  head  that  wears  the  crown.”  And  yet 
the  greatest  hopes  of  humanity  rest  in  the  fact  that  all  classes  and 
individuals  are  always  and  everywhere  bearing 

“A  banner  with  the  strange  device — Excelsior.” 

The  truth  is,  the  peoples  of  the  world  are  inseparably  linked 
together.  Mankind  are  brothers,  and  they  are  held  together  as 
the  world  itself  is  held ;  you  cannot,  without  breaking  things,  pro¬ 
duce  the  elevation  of  the  mountain  without  lifting  up  the  country 
adjoining.  The  rich  hold  in  exclusiveness,  by  a  doubtful  tenure, 
all  the  delights  and  honors  and  excitements  of  life  SO'  long  as  the 
millions  enjoy  only  a  heritage  of  unenlightened  labor  and  un¬ 
rewarded  toil.  We  must  either  all  go  back  to  barbarism,  where 
equality  and  contentment  reign,  or  the  rich  must  lift  up  the  poor  in 
proportion  as  they  themselves  are  lifted  up.  Let,  therefore,  the  man 
of  wealth,  instead  of  barricading  the  doors  of  his  home,  and  seek¬ 
ing  shelter  in  bars  and  bolts  and  iron  gates,  take  his  basket  of 
overflowing  plenty  upon  his  arm  and  seek  out  the  homes  of  squalor 
and  want  and  find  his  safety  and  the  safety  of  his  home  in  the  uni- 
versal  brotherhood  of  man. 

Leonard  Swett, 
Counsel  for  the  Defendants. 


Chicago,  March  1,  1887. 


CHAPTER  II. 

MR.  PARSONS  IN  COURT.* 

Arch-Conspirator  A.  R.  Parsons  amazed  the  crowd,  and  even 
dazed  the  placid  Presiding  Judge  Gary,  by  marching  into  the  court¬ 
room  beside  Lawyer  Black,  chief  counsel  for  the  Anarchists.  The 
much-sought-after  dynamiter  walked  quietly  into  Court  and  took  a 
chair.  He  made  no  more  ado  than  if  he  had  tome  in  as  an  inter¬ 
ested  spectator.  The  idea  of  being  a  hunted  fugitive  did  not  seem 
to  possess  him  in  the  least. 

Capt.  Black  introduced  him  to  the  Court  as  one  of  the  defendants 
in  the  case  at  bar,  and  asked  that  he  be  arraigned.  Not  a  word 
of  explanation  was  vouchsafed,  nor  was  there  any  attempt  by  the 
police  officers  present  to  interfere.  Where  he  came  from,  or  where 
he  had  spent  the  time  he  has  been  so  sadly  missed,  was  not  known. 
No  one  ventured  to  inquire  while  the  prisoner  was  being  arraigned. 

Parsons  looked  as  he  always  has  since  Chicagoans  have  known 
him — thin.  He  was  dressed  in  a  quiet  suit  of  blue.  He  was  led  to 
where  the  other  prisoners  were  sitting,  and  where  the  defendants’ 
counsel  had  retained  a  seat  for  him.  It  was  a  carefully  arranged 
surprise,  dramatically  carried  out. 

“Parsons,”  said  Lawyer  Black,  “has  not  at  any  time  been  over 
ioo  miles  from  the  city,  yet  all  the  200  officers  looking  for  him 
would  never  have  unearthed  him.  He  was  not  brought  forward 
before  simply  because  the  methods  of  the  Chicago  police  are  brutal 
and  utterly  above  and  regardless  of  the  law.  I  proposed  to  have 
my  client  treated  legally  and  not  bullyragged  and  tortured  as  pris¬ 
oners  are  not  even  in  Russia.” 

A  police  officer  said  that  there  was  but  one  theory  that  he  had 
as  to  the  hiding-place  of  the  prisoner,  and  that  was  that  he  was 
secreted  in  Capt.  Black’s  own  household. 

*Sample  report  of  capitalistic  papers  of  Mr.  Parsons’  voluntary  surrender 
in  Court  for  trial  when  the  case  was  called,  June  21,  1886. 


168 


MR.  PARSONS  IN  COURT. 


169 

After  the  flutter  following  his  entrance  was  over,  Parsons  was 
formally  arraigned.  This  took  but  a  few  minutes,  the  prisoner 
pleading  not  guilty.  He  then  took  his  seat,  and  the  examination 
of  the  jurors  was  proceeded  with,  just  as  if  the  police  had  had  no 
such  terrible  humiliation  put  upon  them,  and  just  as  if  the  Judge 
and  audience  had  had  no  great  surprise  given  them. 

On  being  seen  by  the  reporter  after  he  was  locked  up,  in  reply 
to  a  question  as  to  where  he  had  been,  he  laughingly  remarked : 

“Oh,  only  rusticating  at  a  fashionable  western  summer  resort.” 

“Well,  what  was  your  object  in  surrendering  to  the  authorities, 
at  this  time  of  such  public  excitement  ?” 

“I  have  simply  returned  to  bear  my  share  with  my  comrades 
here,  whatever  fate  may  have  in  store  for  them  and  me.” 

Another  capitalistic  paper  says,  in  commenting  upon  his  sur¬ 
render  :  “The  voluntary  surrender  of  A.  R.  Parsons  in  Court  makes 
him  the  central  figure  in  the  greatest  criminal  trial  of  modern  times.” 


CHAPTER  III. 


THE  IMMOLATION  TO  AUTHORITY. 

Alrert  R.  Parsons  as  Capt.  W.  P.  Black  Knew  Him — Parsons 
Surrenders  Himself  to  Stand  Trial  With  His  Comrades — 
His  Connection  With  the  Haymarket  Meeting — Some 
Points  of  the  Defense — Ti-ie  Verdict  Calmly  Received  by 
the  Prisoners — Parsons  Refuses  to  Sign  a  Petition  for 
Clemency — Heroic  Effort  to  Save  His  Companions — Mar¬ 
tyrs  to  Their  Convictions. 

In  the  period  elapsing  between  the  4th  of  May,  1886,  and  the  21st 
of  June,  when  the  trial  of  the  indictment  against  Spies,  et  al.,  was  be¬ 
gun  in  the  Criminal  Court  of  Cook  county,  and  while  the  attorneys  en¬ 
gaged  for  the  defendants  were  busy  with  their  preparations  for  the 
struggle,  the  question  was  several  times  presented  as  to  whether  or 
not  Albert  R.  Parsons  could  safely  come  to  the  bar  and  submit  to  a 
trial  under  the  indictment  along  with  those  who  were  then  in  prison. 
This  question  was  first  brought  to  our  attention  by  Mrs.  Parsons,  who 
told  us  that  her  husband  had  written  to  her  desiring  to  know  our 
views  upon  the  subject.  She  stated  to  us  that  her  husband  was  per¬ 
fectly  willing  to  act  in  the  matter  as  we  should  advise ;  that  knowing 
that  he  had  neither  participation  in  nor  responsibility  for  the  throwing 
of  the  bomb  at  the  Haymarket  meeting,  and  that  in  fact  he  had  no 
knowledge  of  the  meeting  itself  until  about  the  time  he  was  called 
to  speak  at  it,  he  was  himself  confident  that  a  trial  of  the  indictment 
as  against  him  could  only  result  in  his  acquittal,  if  there  was  any 
j  hope  of  securing  an  impartial  jury;  and  that  if  it  was  judged  that  his 
presence  during  the  trial  would  be  likely  to  be  in  any  measure  helpful 
to  those  who  were  accused  with  him,  he  was  ready  to  come  to  the  bar. 

When  this  question  was  first  presented  it  was  met  with  the  sug¬ 
gestion  that  there  would  be  time  enough  to  consider  the  matter  later 
on,  as  it  would  be  sufficient  if  he  appeared  in  court  at  any  time 


170 


THE  IMMOLATION  TO  AUTHORITY. 


I7I 

before  the  impanneling  of  the  jury  was  commenced.  During  the 
week  immediately  preceding  the  21st  of  June  Mrs.  Parsons  came 
again  to  the  attorneys  for  the  defense,  saying  that  she  was  directed 
by  her  husband  once  more  to  bring  this  question  before  us  for  our 
advice  and  determination.  At  that  time  we  felt  reasonably  sure  as 
to  what  would  be  developed  upon  the  trial  by  the  evidence  in  refer¬ 
ence  to  Parsons’  movements,  and  that  upon  the  evidence  we  could 
demonstrate  to  any  dispassionate  mind  that  Mr.  Parsons  had  never 
counseled,  aided,  abetted,  or  advised  the  throwing  of  the  bomb  at 
the  Haymarket  meeting.  But  it  was  felt  by  us  all,  in  the  then  con¬ 
dition  of  public  opinion — the  full  rancor  of  which,  however,  was  not 
appreciated  by  any  of  us — that  there  was  a  certain  element  of  danger 
in  the  coming  even  of  a  demonstrably  innocent  man  into  this  com¬ 
munity  to  submit  to  trial,  when,  confessedly,  that  man  had  been  a 
leader  for  years  in  the  labor  agitation  which  was  prevalent,  and  was 
an  apostie  of  the  doctrine  of  agitation  for  organization,  and  organiza¬ 
tion  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  about  a  changed  condition  of  society, 
which  change  it  was  proposed  to  accomplish  in  order  to  secure  as  of 
right  to  the  wage-earners  a  larger  and  more  nearly  just  share  in  the 
results  of  their  own  production.  In  other  words,  we  all  knew  that 
Mr.  Parsons  was  a  professed  Anarchist,  and  that  he  was  a  believer 
in  the  prediction  that  the  injustice  and  inequalities  existing  under  the 
present  system  of  social  order  pointed  inevitably  to  revolution,  because 
of  the  known  and  fixed  indisposition  of  those  possessed  of  wealth 
and  holding  power  to  make  a  voluntary  change  in  the  adjustment  of 
affairs  such  as  would  bring  to  realization  the  dream  and  hope  of  the 
social  leformer. 

We  knew  enough  of  Mr.  Parsons  to  believe  that  if  he  came  to 
the  bar  of  the  Court  voluntarily,  submitted  himself  to  its  jurisdic¬ 
tion,  and  braved  its  judgment  upon  the  accusation  preferred  against 
him,  he  would  be  a  party  to  no  deception,  he  would  yield  to  no  pal¬ 
tering,  he  would  consent  to  no  lowering  of  his  standard  of  opinion 
merely  in  the  hope  of  personal  advantage  or  of  placating  the  bitter 
feeling  that  had  been  aroused  against  these  labor  leaders.  It  was  a 
serious  matter,  therefore,  when  we  were  asked  to  advise  Mr.  Par¬ 
sons  upon  the  question  submitted  to  us ;  but  our  advice  was  asked, 
and  under  such  circumstances  that  we  felt  it  a  duty  to  speak.  We 


172 


THE  IMMOLATION  TO  AUTHORITY. 


knew  that  Mr.  Parsons  was  in  a  place  of  absolute  safety,  and  that 
every  effort  of  the  police  to  discover  him  had  proved  utterly  unavail¬ 
ing.  We  knew  that  around  him  was  a  cordon  of  friends  keeping 
ceaseless  watch,  and  that  he  could,  from  a  distance,  if  so  advised,  ob¬ 
serve  the  progress  of  the  impending  trial  in  personal  safety.  Could 
he  with  reasonable  safety  come  to  the  bar  of  the  Court?  Was  the 
possible  advantage  of  such  a  step  sufficient  to  justify  the  hazard? 

In  obedience  to  the  request  of  his  wife  I  wrote  a  letter  to  Mr. 
Parsons  upon  the  subject  of  his  inquiry,  in  which  I  tried  to  set 
before  him  fully  the  danger  which  confronted  him  in  the  event  of  his 
return,  and  the  possibilities  of  awful  consequences,  but  in  which  I 
expressed  the  personal  belief  that  we  could  satisfactorily  establish 
his  innocence,  and  therefore  could  secure  his  acquittal ;  that  I  be- 
lieved  the  effect  of  his  return  and  presence  in  the  trial  could  not  but 
be  advantageous  to  his  co-defendants.  But  I  told  him  in  effect  that 
the  responsibility  of  advising  his  return  was  one  that  I  could  not 
and  would  not  take — I  could  only  lay  the  case  fully  before  him,  and 
leave  it  to  him  to  determine  what  action  he  would  take. 

Albert  R.  Parsons  came  of  his  own  volition,  and  prompted  by 
his  own  sense  of  right  and  of  loyalty  to  his  comrades  in  labor,  from 
a  place  of  absolute  security,  walked,  unrecognized,  to  the  very  bar 
of  the  Court,  and  there  submitted  himself  to  the  imprisonment  from 
which  he  was  liberated  on  the  scaffold. 

Did  he  ever  regret  that  step?  I  can  only  say  that  never,  in  all 
the  weeks  and  months  that  followed,  did  he  express  to  me,  nor  for 
a  single  instant  manifest,  the  slightest  regret.  He  constantly  pro¬ 
tested  that  he  would  do  the  same  again ;  and  when  he  stood  up  before 
the  Court  in  answer  to  its  question  to  show  cause  why  sentence  of 
death  should  not  be  pronounced  upon  him,  the  closing  words  of  his 
memorable  speech  were,  that,  despite  all  that  had  followed  his  re¬ 
turn,  he  had  nothing  to  regret ;  while  as  he  said  it,  as  if  to  give 
deeper  significance  to  his  statement,  he  came  to  where  I  sat  and 
placed  his  arm  upon  my  shoulder,  as  if  speaking  the  words  to  me. 
He  knew  that  I  had  carried  a  certain  burden,  in  connection  with  the 
untoward  ending  of  his  trial,  because  of  the  part  I  had  taken  in  con¬ 
nection  with  his  return.  It  was  of  me  that  he  thought  in  that  mo¬ 
ment,  and  for  my  comfort  that  he  spoke  the  words. 


THE  IMMOLATION  TO  AUTHORITY. 


173 


Until  that  21st  of  June,  1886,  my  personal  acquaintance  with  Al¬ 
bert  R.  Parsons  had  been  of  the  very  slightest ;  we  had  not  met 
more  than  three  or  four  times,  and  that  only  at  long  intervals,  and 
under  circumstances  which  made  the  acquaintance  formal  and  of  a 
business  character.  I  knew  nothing  of  the  inner  nature  of  the  man. 
I  knew  in  a  general  way  that  he  had  been  a  labor  agitator,  and 
that  he  was  accounted  by  the  people  of  means  with  whom  I  ordin¬ 
arily  associated  “a  pestilent  fellow,”  somewhat  dangerous  to  the 
community,  and  certainly  uncomfortable  to  the  lovers  of  ease  and 
those  having  the  disposition  to  maintain  the  established  order  which 
prevails  generally  among  people  whose  good  fortune  it  has  been  to 
get  ahead  in  the  world  and  to  cradle  themselves  in  the  lap  of  luxury. 
I  can  say  in  all  truthfulness  that  certainly  I  did  not  at  that  time  spe¬ 
cially  admire  him;  but  I  can  also  say  that  even  then  I  regarded  his 
conduct  in  coming  of  his  own  volition  to  the  bar  of  the  Court,  to 
make  common  cause  with  those  who  were  joined  in  the  indictment 
and  to  take  part  in  the  chance  of  the  trial  with  them,  as  admirable, 
having  in  it  certainly  a  touch  of  the  heroic. 

For  Albert  R.  Parsons  was  comparatively  a  young  man ;  and 
notwithstanding  the  arduous  service  he  had  been  called  upon  to  ren¬ 
der  in  his  espousal  and  advocacy  of  the  cause  of  the  wage  classes 
of  society,  and  despite  his  scanty  means,  and  oftentimes  actual  pri¬ 
vation  resulting  therefrom,  he  had  yet  much  to  make  life  bright 
to  him,  much  to  make  him  happy  in  life.  He  had  a  wife  whose  de¬ 
votion  to  him  has  since  become  proverbial,  and  two  beautiful  chil¬ 
dren  to  whom  he  was  as  tenderly  attached  as  any  father  to  his  young 
I  have  ever  known.  He  knew,  too,  far  better  than  I  knew,  the  in¬ 
tensity  of  the  hostile  feeling  existing  between  the  property-owners 
ordinarily  dominating  the  opinion  of  society  and  the  agitators,  who, 
as  it  seemed  to  them,  were  constantly  threatening  their  possessions 
and  repose.  He  appreciated,  far  more  than  I  did  at  the  time,  the 
actual  hazard  of  the  step  he  took.  That  he  should,  in  the  retire¬ 
ment  and  seclusion  of  his  retreat,  and  after  weeks  of  consideration, 
during  which  his  own  personal  safety  was  demonstrated,  have 
reached  and  acted  upon  the  fixed  resolve  to  offer  his  own  life  in  what 
he  believed  to  be  the  cause  of  the  wage  class,  and  for  the  possible  ad¬ 
vantage  of  his  fellow-agitators,  was  heroic.  I  believe  that  the  day 


174 


THE  IMMOLATION  TO  AUTHORITY. 


will  yet  come  when  intelligent  and  dispassionate  people  will  regard 
with  a  sort  of  incredulous  horror  the  action  of  the  community  that 
consigned  such  a  man  to  death,  refused  him  reprieve,  and  exacted  the 
final  and  supreme  penalty  of  the  law.  For  what  was  the  case  made 
by  the  State  against  Albert  R.  Parsons? 

It  was  shown  without  contradiction  that  on  Sunday,  May  2,  1886, 
Albert  R.  Parsons  was  in  the  city  of  Cincinnati,  O.,  returning  to 
Chicago  on  the  morning  of  Tuesday,  May  4;  that  immediately  upon 
his  return  he  caused  a  notice,  calling  for  a  meeting  of  the  American 
Group  of  the  International  at  107  Fifth  avenue  for  the  evening  of 
May  4,  to  be  inserted  in  the  Daily  News  of  that  afternoon;  that  in 
the  evening  he  left  his  house  in  company  with  his  wife,  Mrs.  Holmes, 
a  lady  friend,  and  his  two  little  children,  aged  5  and  7  years,  re¬ 
spectively;  that  they  walked  from  their  home  on  the  West  Side  as 
far  as  to  the  corner  of  Randolph  and  Halsted  streets,  where  they  met 
two  reporters — namely :  Mr.  Heineman  and  Mr.  Owen.  There  Mr. 
Parsons  and  his  party  took  a  car  and  rode  direct  to  107  Fifth  avenue, 
where  they  arrived  about  half  past  8  o’clock,  and  remained  about 
half  an  hour.  Concerning  this  meeting  at  the  corner  of  Halsted 
and  Randolph  streets,  Mr.  Owen,  who  was  called  as  one  of  the  wit¬ 
nesses  for  the  prosecution,  testified  as  follows : 

“I  saw  Parsons  at  the  corner  of  Randolph  and  Halsted  streets 
shortly  before  8  o’clock ;  I  asked  him  where  the  meeting  was  going 
to  be  held ;  he  said  he  did  not  know  anything  about  the  meeting.  I 
asked  him  whether  he  was  going  to  speak.  He  said:  No,  he  was 
going  over  to  the  South  Side.  Mrs.  Parsons  and  some  children  came 
up  just  then,  and  Mr.  Parsons,  before  entering  the  street  car, 
slapped  me  familiarly  upon  the  back  and  asked  me  if  I  was  armed, 
and  I  said  no.  I  asked  him :  ‘Have  you  any  dynamite  about  you  ?’ 
He  laughed,  and  Mrs.  Parsons  said :  ‘He  is  a  very  dangerous-look¬ 
ing  man,  isn’t  he?’  And  they  got  on  the  car  and  went  east.  I  be¬ 
lieve  Mr.  Heineman  was  with  me.” 

Mr.  Heineman  was  also  called  as  a  witness  for  the  prosecution, 
and  while  his  testimony  as  to  this  meeting  was  not  quite  as  full  as 
that  of  Mr.  Owen,  it  was  in  substantial  harmony  therewith. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  American  Group,  as  was  shown  by  an 
abundance  of  uncontradicted  testimony,  there  were  present,  all  told, 


THE  IMMOLATION  TO  AUTHORITY. 


175 


about  fifteen  members,  including  Mr.  Parsons,  his  wife,  and  Mrs. 
Holmes;  and  the  subject  considered  was  the  matter  of  the  organi¬ 
zation  of  the  sewing  women  of  Chicago,  with  reference  to  the  eight- 
hour  movement.  Some  steps  were  taken,  and  some  slight  expendi¬ 
tures  were  authorized,  to  accomplish  the  organization  of  these  seam¬ 
stresses  ;  and  when  this  work  had  been  nearly  concluded,  and  the 
meeting  was  about  ready  to  adjourn,  a  messenger  arrived,  who  had 
been  sent  over  by  Mr.  Spies  from  the  Haymarket  meeting,  then  as¬ 
sembled,  stating  that  there  was  great  and  immediate  need  for  speak¬ 
ers,  and  urging  that  some  of  those  attending  at  107  Fifth  avenue 
should  come  over  at  once  to  speak  to  the  Haymarket  meeting.  There¬ 
upon  the  American  Group  adjourned  its  meetings,  and  most  of  the 
members  walked  over  to  the  Haymarket,  a  distance  of  about  half  a 
mile,  Mr.  Parsons  and  his  entire  family,  Mr.  Fielden,  and  others 
going  direct  to  the  meeting,  as  shown  by  the  evidence. 

Parsons  reached  the  Haymarket  some  time  shortly  after  9  o’clock, 
while  Spies  was  speaking,  and  directly  afterward  Spies  stopped  and 
introduced  Parsons  to  the  audience.  Parsons  spoke  from  three- 
quarters  of  an  hour  to  an  hour.  It  was  concurred  in  by  all  of  the 
witnesses  who  testified  in  reference  to  Parsons’  speech  that  it  was 
largely  statistical  in  its  nature,  and  devoted  to  a  review  of  the  dis¬ 
turbed  condition  of  the  labor  world ;  and  it  was  conceded  by  all  the 
witnesses  for  the  prosecution  that  when,  in  the  course  of  his  remarks, 
he  mentioned  the  name  of  Jay  Gould,  in  connection  with  the  South¬ 
western  railway  troubles,  and  some  one  in  the  audience  proposed 
the  hanging  of  the  railway  magnate,  Parsons  immediately  replied 
deprecating  such  utterance,  saying  in  effect:  “No!  This  is  not  a 
conflict  between  individuals,  but  for  a  change  of  system,  and  So¬ 
cialism  aims  to  remove  the  causes  which  produce  the  pauper  and  the 
millionaire,  but  does  not  aim  at  the  .life  of  the  individual.”  He  said 
further  in  substance:  “Kill  Jay  Gould,  and  like  a  jack-in-a-box 
another  or  a  hundred  others  like  him  will  come  up  in  his  place  under 
the  existing  social  conditions and  he  also  used  the  figure  that  to 
kill  the  individual  millionaire  or  capitalist  would  be  like  killing  a 
flea  upon  a  dog,  whereas  the  purpose  of  Socialism  was  the  destruc¬ 
tion  of  the  dog — the  change  of  the  existing  system.  That  this  was 
the  substance  and  tenor  of  Parsons’  response  to  the  one  suggestion 


176 


THE  IMMOLATION  TO  AUTHORITY. 


of  violence  that  came  from  his  audience  during  his  entire  address 
stands  admitted  upon  the  record  in  the  case. 

Some  of  the  witnesses  for  the  State  testified  that  at  some  point  in 
hisMiscourse  Parsons  used  the  expression:  “To  arms!  To  arms!  To 
arms !”  This  was  the  only  incendiary  utterance  that  was  claimed 
to  have  been  made  use  of  by  him.  But  in  reference  to  this  expres¬ 
sion,  and  the  connection  in  which  it  was  used  by  Mr.  Parsons,  the 
most  convincing  testimony  offered  on  the  part  of  the  prosecution  was 
that  of  Mr.  English,  a  stenographic  reporter  for  the  Chicago  Tribune , 
who  attended  the  meeting  under  instructions  from  the  management 
of  the  paper  which  he  represented,  as  testified  by  himself,  to  report 
only  the  most  inflammatory  utterances.  Such  utterances,  however, 
he  reported  verbatim;  and  his  stenographic  report,  read  to  the  jury, 
as  to  this  remark,  was  in  the  following  words,  given  as  spoken  by 
Mr.  Parsons: 

“It  behooves  you,  as  you  love  your  wife  and  children,  if  you  do 
not  want  to  see  them  perish  with  hunger,  killed,  or  shot  down  like 
dogs  in  the  street,  Americans,  in  the  interest  of  your  liberty  and  in¬ 
dependence,  to  arm,  to  arm  yourselves.  [Applause  and  cries  of  “We 
will  do  it,”  “We  are  ready  now.”]  You  are  not.” 

Mr.  English  further  stated  positively  in  this  connection  that 
when  Parsons  said :  “To  arm,  to  arm  yourselves !”  he  said  it  in 
the  ordinary  tone  of  voice  in  which  he  was  then  speaking.  He  stated 
also,  that  this  expression  was  shortly  following  an  utterance  of 
Parsons  in  the  following  language :  “I  am  not  here  for  the  purpose 
of  inciting  anybody,  but  to  speak  out,  to  tell  the  facts  as  they  exist, 
even  though  it  should  cost  my  life  before  morning.” 

Mayor  Harrison,  who  heard  Parsons’  speech,  and  attended  the 
meeting  for  the  purpose  of  dispersing  it  if  anything  should  occur 
to  require  interference,  upon  the  witness-stand  testified  that  he  heard 
nothing  spoken  by  Parsons  that  in  his  judgment  required  any  action 
upon  his  part ;  that  his  speech  was  largely  statistical,  and  while  he 
would  denominate  it  as  a  violent  political  harangue,  it  was  in  fact 
unusually  moderate  in  its  tone  as  compared  with  what  was  habitual 
to  speakers  occupying  Mr.  Parsons’  position  upon  such  occasions. 
Certain  it  is,  that  Mr.  Harrison,  the  chief  executive  officer  of  the  city, 
having  its  welfare  at  heart,  and  charged  with  the  responsibility  of 


THE  IMMOLATION  TO  AUTHORITY. 


177 


preserving  its  peace  and  safety,  left  the  meeting  at  the  end  of  Parsons’ 
speech,  and  told  Inspector  Bonfield  at  the  station,  only  a  block  away 
from  the  meeting,  where  the  police  forces  were  massed,  that  nothing 
had  up  to  that  time  occurred,  or  seemed  likely  to  occur,  to  require 
interference,  and  that  Bonfield  had  better  issue  orders  to  his  reserves 
at  the  other  stations  to  go  home.  To  this  suggestion  of  the  Mayor 
Mr.  Bonfield  responded  at  once  that  his  detectives,  who  were  in 
attendance  upon  the  meeting  and  were  constantly  bringing  him  re¬ 
ports  as  to  its  progress  and  tone,  had  made  to  him  the  same  report 
as  to  the  character  of  the  meeting  and  the  utterances  thereat,  and 
that  he  had  already  ordered  the  reserves  at  the  other  stations  to 
disperse ;  but  that  he  thought  it  was  better  for  him  to  hold  the  forces 
at  the  Desplaines  street  station  together  to  prevent  possible  violence 
after  the  adjournment  of  the  meeting.  Thus  assured  that  there  was 
no  present  or  prospective  danger  in  connection  with  the  Haymarket 
meeting,  Mr.  Harrison  went  home. 

After  speaking  about  an  hour  Parsons  brought  his  address  to  a 
close,  and  was  succeeded  by  Mr.  Fielden. 

Fielden  spoke  about  ten  minutes,  when  a  cloud,  accompanied  by 
a  cold  wind  and  with  some  threatenings  of  rain,  swept  up  in  the 
northern  sky ;  whereupon  Mr.  Parsons  interrupted  him  and  sug¬ 
gested  an  adjournment  of  the  meeting  to  Zepf’s  hall,  which  was  in 
a  building  situated  on  the  northeast  corner  of  Lake  and  Desplaines 
streets,  about  half  a  block  from  the  location  of  the  Haymarket  meet¬ 
ing.  To  this  some  one  in  the  crowd  responded  that  the  hall  was 
already  occupied  by  a  meeting  of  the  Furniture-Workers’  Union,  and 
thereupon  Fielden  suggested  that  he  would  be  through  in  a  few  min¬ 
utes  and  then  they  could  all  go  home;  after  which  Fielden  proceeded 
with  his  remarks.  But  the  suggestion  made  by  Mr.  Parsons,  coupled 
with  the  threatening  aspect  of  the  sky  and  the  cold  change,  as  well 
as  the  fact  that  the  hour  was  late  and  the  crowd  wearied  with  stand’ 
ing  several  hours  in  the  open  air,  furnished  the  occasion  for  the 
scattering  of  the  larger  part  of  the  audience ;  so  that  the  conclusion 
of  Fielden’s  speech  was  addressed  to  an  assemblage  estimated  by  the 
various  witnesses  who1  spoke  on  the  point,  at  from  200  to  500  people, 
not  a  single  witness  worthy  of  belief  placing  the  number  higher  than 
the  last-named  figure.  Stepping  from  the  speakers’  wagon  Mr. 


i78 


THE  IMMOLATION  TO  AUTHORITY. 


Parsons  went  to  another  wagon  situated  a  few  paces  north  of  it,  in 
which  sat  his  wife  and  Mrs.  Holmes  with  some  friends,  and  proposed 
to  them  that  they  should  all  go  together  to  Zepf’s  hall,  which  was 
accordingly  done.  Within  about  five  minutes  thereafter  the  bomb 
at  the  Haymarket  exploded,  and  it  was  proved  incontestibly,  with¬ 
out  any  contradiction  whatever,  that  at  the  time  the  bomb  exploded, 
Parsons,  together  with  his  wife,  Mrs.  Holmes,  and  others,  was  in 
Zepf’s  saloon,  which  occupied  the  ground  floor  in  the  building  in 
which  Zepf’s  hall  was  located. 

No  effort  was  made  by  the  prosecution,  because  none  could  be 
successfully  made,  unless  by  rank  perjury,  to  convict  Parsons  of  any 
knowledge  whatever  of  any  of  the  preliminaries  of  the  Haymarket 
meeting.  That  meeting  had  been  arranged  for  at  a  meeting  held  at 
Greif’s  hall,  No.  54  West  Lake  street,  on  Monday  night,  May  3, 
1886.  The  professed  purpose  of  the  Haymarket  meeting  was  to 
consider  and  protest  against  the  conduct  of  the  police  at  the  McCor¬ 
mick  riot,  following  a  meeting  at  the  Black  road  held  near  Mc¬ 
Cormick’s  reaper  works  on  the  afternoon  of  Monday,  May  3.  The 
Haymarket  meeting  was  called  by  a  circular  issued  by  direction  of 
the  Monday  night  meeting,  at  which  meeting,  as  shown  by  the  evi¬ 
dence,  only  two  of  the  eight  men  who  were  upon  trial  were  present — 
to-wit:  Fischer  and  Engel.  On  the  afternoon  of  Tuesday,  May  4, 
two  others  of  the  accused — to-wit :  Schwab  and  Spies — were  ap¬ 
prised  of  the  Monday  night  meeting  and  of  the  proceeding  thereat, 
which  they  at  once  denounced  as  foolish  in  the  extreme,  and  as  to 
which  they  took  immediate  steps  and  every  possible  precaution  to 
prevent  any  action  thereunder  or  rash  consequences.  It  was  ad¬ 
mitted  by  all  the  witnesses  for  the  prosecution,  however,  that  when 
the  Haymarket  meeting  was  determined  upon,  at  the  Monday  night 
meeting,  it  was  distinctly  talked  and  understood  that  there  was  to 
be  no  preparation  whatever  for  violence  at  the  Haymarket  meeting 
nor  was  it  expected  that  any  collision  with  the  police  would  occur 
then,  but  that  the  same  was  to  be  simply  an  agitation  meeting,  and 
for  the  purpose  suggested.  Parsons  never  heard  of  the  Monday 
night  meeting,  nor  of  the  proceedings  thereof,  until  after  the  Hay¬ 
market  meeting  had  come  to  its  tragic  termination. 

A  dispassionate  consideration  of  the  testimony  in  the  record 


THE  IMMOLATION  TO  AUTHORITY. 


179 


can  not  but  convince  any  fair-minded  person  that  when  Parsons 
went  to  the  Haymarket  meeting,  upon  the  request  received  at  the 
American  Group  meeting  about  9  o’clock ;  when  he  spoke  there  in 
the  calm  and  temperate  tone  which  characterized  his  remarks, 
announcing  that  he  had  no  purpose  of  incitement,  but  only  to  speak 
the  truth  as  he  apprehended  it  concerning  the  wage  conditions  of 
modern  society;  and  when  he  proposed  an  adjournment  to  Zepf’s 
hall,  and  himself  left  the  meeting  with  his  family  and  friends  and 
went  to  Zepf’s  saloon,  he  had  no  thought,  no  intimation  from  any 
source,  no  reason  whatever  to  believe  that  any  violence  was  con¬ 
templated  by  any  person  at  the  Haymarket  meeting,  or  was  likely 
to  occur.  It  was  because  of  this  continuous  innocence  of  participation 
in,  complicity  with,  or  responsibility  for,  the  act  of  bomb-throwing 
that  Mr.  Parsons  felt  he  could  properly  surrender  himself  for  trial 
and  be  reasonably  secure  of  a  vindication,  expecting  that  under 
the  safeguards  provided  by  the  law  an  impartial  jury  could  be 
secured. 

Beyond  the  testimony  above  outlined,  the  State  was  permitted 
to  introduce,  in  its  effort  to  make  out  a  case  against  Parsons, 
evidence  of  a  number  of  speeches  made  by  Parsons  during  a  long 
period  of  time  preceding  the  Haymarket  meeting,  and  extracts  from 
the  files  of  the  Alarm,  of  which  Parsons  was  the  editor ;  not  upon 
the  theory  that  any  of  these  things  bore  directly  upon  or  had  im¬ 
mediate  reference  to,  the  Haymarket  meeting,  or  the  act  at  that 
meeting  of  the  bomb-thrower,  but  upon  the  theory  that  they  fur¬ 
nished  evidence  proper  to  be  considered  by  the  jury  as  tending  to 
establish  a  general  conspiracy  for  the  overthrow  of  the  existing 
order  of  society,  which  contemplated  such  rfieetings  as  that  at  the 
Haymarket,  and  such  acts  as  there  committed,  as  among  the  things 
which  might  be  done  in  furtherance  of  this  purpose. 

It  was  contended  in  behalf  of  the  defense  upon  the  trial  that 
such  testimony  was  not  legally  competent;  that  in  the  absence  of 
testimony  showing  a  conspiracy  or  agreement  to  do  the  particular 
thing,  criminal  responsibility  for  which  was  sought  to  be  charged 
against  the  defendants,  it  was  necessary  to  show  by  credible  evi¬ 
dence  that  the  act  complained  of  was  indubitably  committed  by 


'i8o 


THE  IMMOLATION  TO  AUTHORITY. 


one  of  the  conspirators,  not  that  it  might  possibly  have  been  com¬ 
mitted  by  such  a  co-conspirator,  and  that  it  was  committed  by 
such  co-conspirator  in  furtherance  of  the  general  plan  to  which  it 
was  claimed  the  accused  were  committed.  In  other  words,  it  was 
contended  for  the  defense  as  follows : 

I.  That  mere  participation  in  an  unlawful  assembly  or  design 
does  not  make  the  accused  responsible  for  the  independent  and 
unadvised  crime  of  some  other  participant  in  that  assembly  or 
design. 

2.  That  to  hold  the  accused  as  accessories  on  the  ground  of 
conspiracy  it  must  be  shown  by  credible  testimony,  beyond  rea¬ 
sonable  doubt,  that  the  man  committing  the  crime  was  one  of  the 
conspirators. 

3.  That  it  must  further  be  shown  that  the  act  of  violence  com¬ 
mitted  was  within  the  purview  of  the  conspiracy;  in  other  words, 
that  the  conspiracy  provided  for  the  commission  of  the  particular 
act,  by  some  one  of  the  conspirators,  at  the  time  and  place  when 
and  where  it  was  done. 

4.  That  the  mere  fact  that  various  persons  have  a  common 
object  in  view,  or  set  before  themselves  a  common  purpose  for  their 
activity,  does  not  make  one  of  such  parties  responsible  for  the  un¬ 
advised  act  of  another  party  committed  upon  the  independent 
volition  and  uninfluenced  resolve  of  that  other  party. 

5.  That  mere  general  advice,  by  speech  or  print,  to  revolution¬ 
ary  or  violent  acts,  without  evidence  connecting  the  advice  with  the 
man  committing  the  offense  and  showing  that  he  was  influenced 
thereby  to  his  act,  is  not  sufficient  to  warrant  a  contraction  of  the 
speaker  as  an  accessory  to  the  crime.  That  the  law  on  this  point 
is,  as  stated  in  1  Wharton  Criminal  Law ,  §  226,  note:  “Counseling, 
to  come  up  to  the  definition  [of  inciting  to  crime],  must  be  special. ” 
*  *  *  And  in  same  volume,  §179:  “What  human  Judge  can  deter¬ 
mine  that  there  is  such  a  necessary  connection  between  one  man’s 
advice  and  another  man’s  action  as  to  make  the  former  the  cause 
of  the  latter?” 

And  as  a  corollary  of  these  positions  it  was  contended :  That 
before  the  lives  of  men  could  be  legally  adjudged  forfeited  as  the 


THE  IMMOLATION  TO  AUTHORITY.  l8l 

penalty  of  a  crime,  in  which  specific  crime  they  confessedly  had  no 
participation,  it  was  necessary,  in  justice  and  under  the  law,  to 
identify  the  party  committing  the  offense  in  such  manner  as  to 
establish,  by  credible  evidence  and  beyond  any  reasonable  doubt, 
his  consociation  with  the  accused,  and  that  in  the  doing  of  the  act 
he  was  but  carrying  out  his  preconcert  with  the  accused. 

It  is  believed  that  prior  to  the  trial  of  his  case  no  intelligent 
lawyer  could  have  been  found  anywhere  who  would  have  questioned 
the  soundness  of  the  above  positions.  It  is  substantially  admitted 
now,  the  world  over,  that  in  order  to  bring  about  the  conviction  of 
Mr.  Parsons  and  his  associates  the  Court  was  asked  to,  and  did,  go 
much  further,  alike  in  the  admission  of  evidence,  upon  the  question 
of  the  qualification  of  jurors,  in  the  matter  of  its  instructions  in  lay¬ 
ing  down  the  law  to  the  jury,  and  in  the  latitude  generally  allowed 
the  prosecution  in  its  effort  to  secure  a  conviction,  that  was  ever 
before  done  in  modern  jurisprudence.  In  other  words,  it  is  now 
admitted  generally  that  the  law  as  established  in  this  case  was  a 
modification  of  all  prior  adjudication  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  the 
prosecution.  But  it  would  be  wholly  foreign  to  the  purpose  of  this 
sketch  to  go  into  any  elaborate  review  of  the  legal  aspects  of  the 
trial.  I  am  the  rather  called  upon  to  speak  as  to  how  Albert  R. 
Parsons  bore  his  part  in  these  affairs. 

The  verdict  of  the  jury  was  a  profound  and  universal  surprise. 
It  was  well  known  at  the  time  that  the  prosecution  had  no  ex¬ 
pectation  of  securing  the  death  penalty  as  to  more  than  three  or 
four  of  the  accused — -to-wit :  Spies,  Lingg,  Fischer,  and  Engel.  It 
was  generally  expected  that  Oscar  Neebe  would  be  acquitted,  as  it 
was  conceded  with  substantial  unanimity  that  the  State  had  made 
out  no  case  against  him.  And  it  was  believed  that  Parsons,  Fiel- 
den,  and  Schwab,  if  found  guilty  at  all,  would  receive  only  a  sen¬ 
tence  of  imprisonment.  In  fact,  when  Mr.  Grinnell  was  closing 
for  the  prosecution,  almost  his  last  remarks  to  the  jury  were  to  the 
effect  that  he  would  not  ask  the  death  sentence  as  to  Neebe,  and 
that  as  to  the  other  defendants  he  believed  that  there  were  grada¬ 
tions  in  their  responsibility  and  guilt ;  and  that  he  would  place  the 
responsibility  and  guilt  of  the  defendants  in  the  following  order : 


182  the  immolation  to  authority. 

Spies,  Lingg,  Fischer,  Engel,  Fielden,  Parsons,  Schwab.  (I  think  I 
have  the  “roll-call”  in  the  same  order  in  which  he  gave  it.)  The 
suggestion  was  regarded  by  those  who  heard  it  as  being  significant 
of  Mr.  Grinnell's  expectations  in  the  case,  and  as  to  his  views  of 
what  the  verdict  should  be ;  for  if  there  were  in  fact  gradations  in 
the  guilt  of  the  parties  named,  and  in  the  degree  of  their  responsi¬ 
bility,  then  justice  required  that  there  should  also  be  gradations  in 
the  measure  of  their  punishment.  But  the  fierceness  of  popular 
hate,  which  was  carried  by  many  of  the  jurors  into  the  jury-room, 
and  which  seemed  to  fill  all  the  air  like  a  subtle  ether,  brooked  no 
discrimination  in  its  vengeful  treatment  of  the  accused.  All,  save 
only  Neebe,  who  was  protected  by  the  distinct  announcement  of  Mr. 
Grinnell  that  he  did  not  wish  a  death  sentence  as  to  him,  were  in¬ 
volved  without  discrimination  in  a  common  verdict  and  judgment 
by  the  jury. 

No  one  who  was  present  in  the  Court-room  on  that  August 
morning  when  this  verdict  was  announced  will  ever  forget  the  scene. 
The  public  was  excluded  from  the  room,  only  a  very  few  persons 
being  permitted  to  enter.  The  crowd  outside  were  waiting  for  the 
news,  thronging  the  street  through  the  entire  block.  Not  a  man  of 
the  eight,  who  sat  in  the  prisoner’s  chairs,  blanched  for  an  instant 
when  the  reading  of  the  verdict  took  place.  On  the  contrary,  a 
smile  that  had  in  it  something  of  the  suggestion  of  pity  for  the  over¬ 
wrought  violence  of  hatred  that  could  make  such  a  verdict  possible, 
touched  for  a  moment  the  calm  and  quiet  faces  of  the  men  for  whom 
this  verdict  had  such  dire  import.  Among  them  all  none  was  calmer 
than  Parsons,  though  no  one  was  perhaps  more  surprised.  Every 
man  of  them  all  rose  to  the  emergency ;  and  not  even  when  the  wild 
cheer  of  the  crowd  outside  upon  the  announcement  of  the  verdict, 
sounding  like  the  snarling  roar  of  a  wild  beast  ravening  as  it  clutched 
its  prey,  reached  the  ears  of  the  accused,  with  all  its  horrid  sugges¬ 
tions  of  implacable  and  blind  fury  and  resentment,  was  there  ap¬ 
parent  in  the  face  of  any  one  of  the  eight  anything  betokening  malice 
or  a  purpose  of  crime. 

With  the  subsequent  history  of  the  case  the  readers  of  this 
article  are  doubtless  already  familiar ;  but  I  feel  that  there  is  spe- 


THE  IMMOLATION  TO  AUTHORITY.  183 

cial  occasion  for  me  to  give  prominence  to  some  matters  that  were 
within  my  personal  knowledge,  occurring  during  the  last  days,  and 
after  the  announcement  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States 
of  its  refusal  to  interfere  upon  the  appeal  made  to  that  tribunal. 

It  was  then  known  that  the  only  possible  opportunity  for  a 
modification  of  the  sentence  of  the  accused  was  in  an  appeal  for 
the  exercise  of  executive  clemency.  I  knew  personally  that  there 
were  a  great  many  people  who,  while  upholding  the  general  features 
of  the  judgment,  yet  felt  that  it  was  inexpressibly  dreadful  that  this 
extreme  penalty  should  be  inflicted  upon  Parsons  in  view  of  his 
voluntarily  coming  to  the  bar  of  the  Court.  It  was  said  by  many 
that  it  had  never  been  known  that  even  by  a  drum-head  Court  Mar¬ 
tial  the  death  sentence  was  inflicted  upon  an  enemy  who  voluntarily 
surrendered  himself,  coming  from  a  retreat  of  safety  to  place  his 
sword  in  the  hand  of  the  victor.  I  was  personally  advised  that 
special  effort  would  be  made  to  secure  the  commutation  of  Parsons’ 
sentence,  owing  to  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  his  case,  and  of 
course  I  was  very  anxious  to  save  out  of  the  wreck  whatever  of  life 
was  possible.  But  we  found  an  unexpected  obstacle  in  the  matter 
of  the  attitude  taken  by  Parsons  himself  as  to  any  appeal  in  his 
behalf  to  the  Governor.  He  positively  refused  to  sign  in  any  man¬ 
ner  a  petition  for  the  exercise  of  executive  clemency,  which,  under 
the  constitution  and  the  statutes  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  is  pre¬ 
scribed  as  a  condition  of  the  exercise  of  the  pardoning  power.  It 
became  apparent  very  early,  from  the  tone  of  the  press  and  in  vari¬ 
ous  other  ways,  that  unless  Parsons  would  petition  for  himself 
nothing  would  be  done  in  his  case,  but  his  attitude  would  be  accepted 
as  an  excuse  for  charging  to  his  own  folly  what  else  might  be  con¬ 
sidered  an  act  of  inexcusable  public  brutality.  Knowing  the  peril 
in  which  he  was  placing  himself,  I  went  personally  to  Parsons  on 
the  Tuesday  before  the  nth  of  November,  and  told  him  that  I  was 
going  to  Springfield  with  a  deputation  that  night  to  have  a  public 
audience  with  the  Governor  the  following  day  in  support  of  our  ap¬ 
plication  for  the  exercise  of  clemency.  I  had  a  very  long  talk  with 
him,  the  last  of  many  preceding  conversations  of  like  purport, 


184 


THE  IMMOLATION  TO  AUTHORITY. 


urging  him  to  sign  a  petition  which  I  had  prepared  to  be  presented 
to  the  Governor  in  his  behalf. 

I  told  Parsons,  in  the  course  of  our  conversation,  that  his  re¬ 
fusal  to  sign  any  petition  was  likely  to  be  regarded,  by  those  who 
held  that  his  punishment  was  merited  and  was  demanded  for  the 
welfare  of  society,  but  who  might  be  disposed,  because  of  his  per¬ 
sonal  conduct,  to  favor  interposition  in  his  behalf,  as  an  evidence 
of  •perverseness  upon  his  part,  and  that  thus  the  effort  would  be 
made  to  charge  the  result  against  himself.  I  urged  him,  for  the 
sake  of  his  wife  and  his  babes,  to  sign  the  petition.  I  told  him  that 
I  believed  Gov.  Oglesby  was  favorably  disposed  in  his  case;  and 
that  I  thought  in  justice  to  the  Governor  he  should  at  least  sign 
the  petition,  so  that  Gov.  Oglesby  might  have  that  technical  com¬ 
pliance  with  the  law  which  was  so  likely  to  be  exacted  by  the 
public  sentiment  of  the  hour.  I  told  Parsons  plainly  that  I  believed 
if  he  refused  to  sign  any  petition  of  any  character  the  chances 
were  that  he  would  be  executed ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  I  felt 
assured  that  if  I  could  lay  a  properly  phrased  petition  before  the 
executive,  public  opinion  would  justify  Gov.  Oglesby  in  commuting 
his  sentence.  I  went  still  further  and  urged  upon  him,  and  this 
was  the  argument  which  seemed  to  impress  him  most,  that  from 
his  own  standpoint  it  was  the  one  act  that  was  certainly  needed  in 
order  to  complete  his  indictment  against  the  system  of  law  and 
order  which  was  condemning  him  to  death ;  that’  at  least  he  should 
leave  no  legal  excuse  for  the  refusal  to  extend  clemency  to  him. 
He  listened  patiently  to  all  I  said,  and  quietly  replied  in  substance 
to  me  thus : 

“Captain,  I  know  that  you  are  right.  I  know  that  if  I  should 
sign  this  application  for  pardon  my  sentence  would  be  commuted. 
No  longer  ago  than  last  Sunday  night  Melville  E.  Stone,  the  editor 
of  the  Daily  News ,  spent  nearly  two  hours  in  my  cell,  urging  me  to 
sign  a  petition,  and  assuring  me  that  if  I  would  do  so  I  should 
have  his  influence  and  the  influence  of  his  paper  in  favor  of  the 
commutation  of  my  sentence ;  and  I  know  that  that  means  that  my 
sentence  would  be  commuted.  But  I  will  not  do  it.  My  mind  is 
firmly  and  irrevocably  made  up,  and  I  beg  you  to  urge  me  no 


THE  IMMOLATION  TO  AUTHORITY.  1 85 

further  upon  the  subject.  I  am  an  innocent  man — innocent  of 
this  offense  of  which  I  have  been  found  guilty  by  the  jury,  and  the 
world  knows  my  innocence.  If  I  am  to  be  executed  at  all  it  is  because 
I  am  an  Anarchist,  not  because  I  am  a  murderer ;  it  is  because 
of  what  I  have  taught  and  spoken  and  written  in  the  past,  and 
not  because  of  the  throwing  of  the  Haymarket  bomb.  I  can  afford 
to  be  hung  for  the  sake  of  the  ideas  I  hold  and  the  cause  I  have 
espoused  if  the  people  of  the  State  of  Illinois  can  afford  to  hang  an 
innocent  man  who  voluntarily  placed  himself  in  their  power.” 

I  paused  for  a  while,  at  a  loss  what  to  say.  I  know  that  my 
face  showed  something  of  the  pain  that  I  felt,  for  suddenly,  a  soft¬ 
ened  expression  coming  over  his  face,  Parsons  added  words  like 
these : 

“I  will  tell  you,  Captain,  what  is  the  real  secret  of  my  position, 
but  in  confidence.  I  do  not  want  anything  said  about  it  until  after 
the  nth.  I  have  a  hope — mark  you,  it  is  a  very  faint  hope — but 
yet  I  do  hope  that  my  attitude  in  reference  to  this  matter  may 
result  in  the  saving  of  these  other  boys — Lingg,  Engel,  and  Fischer. 
Spies,  Fielden,  and  Schwab  have  already  signed  a  petition  for 
clemency,  and  their  lives  are  safe.  But  the  public  are  determined 
to  have  victims.  And  if  I  should  now  separate  myself  from  Lingg, 
Engel,  and  Fischer,  and  sign  a  petition  upon  which  the  Governor 
could  commute  my  sentence,  I  know  that  it  would  mean  absolute 
doom,  to  the  others —  that  Lingg,  Engel,  and  Fischer  would  inevit¬ 
ably  be  hung.  So  I  have  determined  to  make  their  cause  and  their 
fate  my  own.  I  know  the  chances  are  999  in  1,000  that  I  will 
swing  with  them ;  that  there  isn’t  one  chance  in  a  thousand  of  my 
saving  them ;  but  if  they  can  be  saved  at  all  it  is  by  my  standing 
with  them,  so  that  whatever  action  is  taken  in  my  case  may  with 
equal  propriety  be  taken  in  theirs.  I  will  not,  therefore,  do  any¬ 
thing  that  will  separate  me  from  them.  I  expect  that  the  result 
will  be  that  I  shall  hang  with  them,  but  I  am  ready.” 

I  could  make  no  reply  to  such  an  argument — I  never  tried  to. 
I  knew  that  what  Parsons  said  was  true.  I  knew  that  if  anything 
in  the  world  could  save  the  three  who,  like  himself,  had  refused  to 
apply  for  executive  clemency,  it  would  be  the  fact  that  Parsons 


THE  IMMOLATION  TO  AUTHORITY. 


1 86 


would  stand  with  them  and  share  their  fate.  I  knew,  too,  that  the 
chances  were  that  they  would  all  perish  together !  but  as  against 
a  man  calmly  facing  death,  and  putting  his  determination  upon 
such  exalted  grounds  of  self-sacrifice  and  of  faithfulness  to  the 
obligation  of  comradeship,  I  had  no  reply  to  make.  I  took  him  by 
the  hand,  looked  into  his  face,  and  said  to  him:  “Your  action  is 

i 

worthy  of  you !”  and  came  away. 

It  fell  out  as  I  had  anticipated.  When  Gov.  Oglesby’s  attention 
was  called  to  the  particular  circumstances  of  Parsons’  self-surren¬ 
der,  and  to  the  evidence  showing  that  he  had  absolutely  no  knowl¬ 
edge  whatever  of  any  violence  arranged  for  or  contemplated  at  the 
Haymarket  meeting,  and  consequently  no  participation  in  nor  legal 
responsibility  for  that  act,  under  the  theretofore  established  rules  of 
law,  the  Governor  asked  if  Parsons  had  signed  a  petition  as  re¬ 
quired  by  the  law.  I  knew  what  that  meant ;  and  when,  on  Thurs¬ 
day  morning  I  had  my  last  interview  with  Parsons  and  his  com¬ 
panions,  occupying  but  a  few  minutes  in  each  case  (for  I  went 
again  to  Springfield  Thursday  night,  and  was  with  Gov.  Oglesby 
Friday  morning,  urging  a  vain  plea  for  a  reprieve  of  thirty  days, 
upon  trustworthy  assurances  from  New  York,  communicated  to  the 
Governor,  that  if  such  reprieve  were  granted  the  bomb-thrower 
would  be  produced,  and  it  would  be  shown  that  he  was  a  stranger 
to  the  accused,  and  that  they  had  no  complicity  in  nor  responsibility 
for  that  act),  I  mentioned  to  Parsons  the  question  of  Gov.  Oglesby, 
accompanying  it  with  the  suggestion  that  even  yet  if  he  would  sign 
a  petition  I  believed  we  could  save  his  life;  but  I  had  m>  heart  to 
press  upon  him  that  he  should  do  violence  to  the  noble  purpose 
which  he  had  formed ;  and  when  he  said  to  me,  as  quietly  and 
simply  as  he  would  have  spoken  in  reference  to  some  matter  of  no 
consequence  to  him:  “I  cant  do  it,  Captain;  I  am  ready  for  what¬ 
ever  may  come !”  I  only  shook  his  hand  again  and  turned  away. 

It  may  be  that  there  are  many  who  will  read  this  simple 
account,  and  will  see  in  the  attitude  and  sentiments  of  this  man 
nothing  to  admire,  nothing  heroic ;  but  there  are  others  who,  read¬ 
ing  this  narrative,  will  better  understand  why  I  loved  this  man  and 
his  comrades,  who  were  all  kindred  spirits  with  himself.  He  was 


THE  IMMOLATION  TO  AUTHORITY.  1 8/ 

of  such  material  as  heroes  are  made  of.  I  have  no  hesitation  in 
saying  that  Parsons’  action,  under  all  the  circumstances  of  his 
case,  was  as  heroic  as  any  chronicled  in  ancient  or  modern  annals. 
And  I  believe  that  the  day  will  yet  come  when  it  will  be  generally 
conceded  that  on  the  nth  of  November,  1887,  four  men  perished 
upon  the  scaffold  in  Cook  county  who  were  of  exalted  purpose  and 
of  noble  natures,  dying  because  of  their  steadfastness  to  their  own 
convictions  of  right,  their  loyalty  to  the  cause  of  the  weak  and 
of  the  oppressed  which  they  had  espoused,  their  zeal  in  behalf  of 
the  common  people,  their  devotion  to  their  fellow-men. 

William  P.  Black. 


Chicago,  January  24,  1889. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


LETTER  FROM  ATTORNEY  W.  A.  FOSTER. 

Some  of  the  Principal  Errors  Connected  with  the  Trial 
Pointed  Out — If  the  Object  of  the  Trial  was  to  Obtain 
Justice,  then  Surely  to  Try  the  Eight  Defendants  at  One 
and  the  Same  Time  was  a  Grievous  Mistake — The  Admis¬ 
sion  in  Evidence  of  Herr  Most's  Book  Not  Only  a  Mis¬ 
take,  but  an  Excuse  for  Other  Mistakes. 

Mrs.  Lucy  E.  Parsons — Dear  Madam  : 

In  compliance  with  your  request  that  I  specify  some  of  the  errors 
connected  with  the  late  trial  of  the  so-called  Anarchists’  case,  I 
would  say  that  I  think  Judge  Mulkey  did  not  mis-state  the  facts 
when,  upon  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  on  appeal  being  filed, 
he  stated  from  the  bench :  “I  do  not  wish  to  be  understood  as  hold¬ 
ing  that  the  record  is  free  from  error,  for  I  do  not  think  it  is but  I 
do  disagree  with  the  learned  Judge  in  his  further  statement  when  on 
the  same  occasion  he  said :  “I  am  nevertheless  of  opinion  that  none 
of  the  errors  complained  of  are  of  so  serious  a  character  as  to  require 
a  reversal  of  the  judgment.” 

I  have  long  been  impressed  with  the  idea  that  the  prosecution 
of  criminal  cases  should  be  conducted  with  absolute  fairness  on  the 
part  of  the  people,  by  an  absolutely  impartial  jury,  uninfluenced  by 
popular  demands  or  prejudice;  that  no  effort  should  be  made  to 
bring  about  a  conviction  not  warranted  by  a  full  consideration  of  all 
the  facts ;  and  that  under  no  circumstances  should  the  trial  take  place 
during  an  inflamed  state  of  the  public  mind. 

The  public,  after  due  consideration  of  any  matter  of  great  inter¬ 
est  to  the  people,  is  usually  just  in  its  conclusions ;  but  immediately 
following  the  commission  of  a  heinous  crime  it  is  frequently  only 
necessary  to  point  out  the  supposed  culprit  to  cause  the  public,  at 


188 


LETTER  FROM  W.  A.  FOSTER.  1 89 

other  times  law-abiding,  to  become  willing  to  violate  all  law  and 
commit  cruel  injustice. 

It  is  further  true  that  when  a  trial  is  had  in  the  midst  of  a  com¬ 
munity  excited  by  horror  of  the  crime  committed,  and  so  soon  after 
its  commission  that  reason  has  not  had  time  to  resume  its  sway,  the 
practical  result  is,  not  infrequently,  to  commit,  under  judicial  sanc¬ 
tion,  the  same  wrong  at  other  times  perpetrated  by  mob  violence. 

I  have  always  felt  that  the  trial  of  the  Anarchists’  case  was  held 
far  too  soon  after  the  Haymarket  horror,  and  entirely  too  near  the 
home  of  the  families  of  its  unfortunate  victims. 

Another  mistake  on  the  part  of  your  husband  was  that  he  sub¬ 
mitted  himself  fo  a  trial  in  the  midst  of  the  greatest  possible  excite¬ 
ment,  when  he  was  at  a  safe  place,  and  could  as  well  have  waited 
until  public  reason  had  reasserted  itself.  Had  he  done  so  he  would 
to-day  be  a  free  man.  No  second  trial  could  ever  have  been  had.  It 
was  only  those  caught  within  the  meshes  of  the  net  of  the  first  trial 
that  must  suffer ;  but  woe  unto  all  those  ensnared  by  that  first  terri¬ 
ble  drag ! 

It  has  been  urged  that  it  was  the  duty  of  A.  R.  Parsons  to  stand 
by  his  friends  in  adversity,  and  that  it  was  manly  for  him  to  return 
to  the  trial.  I  do  not  believe  that  manhood  demands  of  any  one  that 
he  submit  himself  to  a  decision  warped  by  prejudice  and  wrought  by 
passion.  Rather  should  he  bide  his  time,  and,  when  the  clouds  of 
excitement  and  anger  have  rolled  by,  and  then  only,  true  bravery 
requires  that  an  investigation  of  the  charge  against  him  be  invited 
by  the  accused.  Under  the  circumstances  surrounding  the  trial,  for 
a  man  to  voluntarily  place  himself  in  the  prisoners’  dock  was  equiva¬ 
lent  to  saying,  “I  am  willing  to  die  for  Anarchy,”  and,  not  being  an 
Anarchist  myself,  I  cannot  but  consider  such  an  act  an  inexcusable 
mistake. 

Where  persons  jointly  accused  of  crime  are  in  many  respects  dis¬ 
connected  with  each  other,  and  some  of  them  almost  entire  strangers 
to  others  of  their  co-defendants,  it  very  often  occurs  that  much  testi¬ 
mony  is  competent  as  against  one  or  more  with  which  the  others 
have  not  the  slightest  connection.  Such  testimony  is  admitted  as 
against  one  or  more,  but  not  as  to  the  other  defendants ;  and  so,  dur¬ 
ing  a  long  trial,  there  is  evidence  introduced  as  against  each  de- 


190  LETTER  FROM  W.  A.  FOSTER. 

fendant,  not  competent  as  against  the  others  jointly  tried;  and  the 
violent  presumption  of  the  law  is  that  the  jury — rarely,  as  all  are 
aware,  representing  the  highest  type  of  intelligence — will  apply 
the  evidence  where  it  belongs  according  to  the  cold  principles  of 
law ;  the  result  being  usually,  as  every  observant  person  knows,  that 
the  whole  burden  of  the  evidence  is  charged  to  all  of  the  defendants, 
and  if,  as  a  whole,  it  warrants  conviction,  all  must  suffer  punishment. 
In  all  such  cases  there  can  be  no  justice  except  by  granting  separate 
trials,  which,  in  this  State,  is  a  matter  of  discretion  with  the  trial 
judge.  If  the  object  of  the  trial  in  the  Anarchists’  case  was  to  ob¬ 
tain  justice,  then  surely  to  try  all  the  eight  defendants  at  one  and 
the  same  time  was  a  grievous  mistake. 

I  have  so  far  only  referred  to  the  mistakes  committed  previous  to 
the  trial.  Were  I  to  attempt  to  go  through  the  record  of  the  case 
and  point  out  what  I  consider  errors,  I  would  go  far  beyond  what 
you  desire  in  this  communication,  which  must  necessarily  be  brief. 
One  of  the  most  flagrant  errors  connected  with  the  trial  was  the 
introduction  of  Herr  Most's  book  on  Modern  Warfare*  against  each 
and  all  of  the  defendants.  I  regard  Most’s  book  as  one  of  the  most 
infamous  publications  I  ever  saw.  To  introduce  this  book  and  read 
it  to  the  jury,  as  was  done  in  this  case,  could  not  fail  to  create  the 
strongest  prejudice,  not  only  against  Most,  who  was  not  on  trial  (and 
he  may  thank  Heaven  he  was  not!),  but  against  all  who  to  any  ex¬ 
tent  whatever  shared  his  beliefs. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Most’s  book  was  printed  only  in  the 
German  language,  and  no  evidence  was  or  could  be  produced  to  prove 
that  it  had  ever  been  read  by  any  of  the  defendants.  It  was  adver¬ 
tised  in  the  Arbeiter-Zeitung,  and  sold  at  picnics.  It  was  not  sold 
by  any  of  the  defendants ;  it  was  not  bought  by  them,  so  far  as  the 
evidence  showed.  If  it  had  ever  been  read  by  them,  no  one  seemed  to 
have  found  it  out ;  but  it  did  appear  that  it  had  never  been  published 
in  the  English  language,  and  as  two,  at  least,  of  the  defendants, 
Fielden  and  Parsons,  could  not  read  German,  it  is  safe  to  conclude 
that  they,  at  least,  had  never  read  the  book,  but  they  must  suffer 
with  the  rest  the  effect  of  its  introduction. 

*The  book  here  referred  to  is  almost  exclusively  compiled  from  the 
records  of  the  police  department  of  Vienna. 


LETTER  FROM  W.  A.  FOSTER. 


I91 

Not  only  was  the  admission  in  evidence  of  Most’s  book  a  mis¬ 
take,  but  it  was  an  excuse  for  other  mistakes.  The  book  described  a 
can  or  jar  for  spreading  conflagrations,  and  it  happened  that  some 
weeks  after  the  defendants  were  arrested  and  safely  lodged  in  jail, 
some  boys  found  tin  cans  under  a  sidewalk  about  three  miles  from 
the  Haymarket.  The  cans  were  brought  into  Court  and  offered  in 
evidence  as  against  all  of  the  defendants — for  what  legitimate  end 
I  could  never  understand.  The  Court,  however,  looked  into  Herr 
Most’s  book,  and  there  found  that  something  similar  was  described, 
and  the  cans  were  admitted  and  the  jury  required  to  handle  and 
smell  of  them,  to  the  great  satisfaction  of  the  prosecution.  This 
seemed  to  me  to  be  introducing  immaterial  evidence,  and  relying  as 
a  basis  for  so  doing  upon  immaterial  testimony  already  introduced. 

/  '  I  might  go  on,  almost  ad  infinitum,  pointing  out  what  I  regard 
as  mistakes  of  the  trial,  but  to  do  so  would  take  up  by  far  too  much 
space  in  your  proposed  publication.  As  I  have  stated,  I  am  not  an 
Anarchist,  nor  in  any  degree  in  sympathy  with  the  doctrines  advo¬ 
cated  by  Anarchists.  My  denunciation  of  these  doctrines,  in  my 
argument  to  the  jury  on  the  trial,  cost  me  my  connection  with  the 
case;  yet  I  cannot  help  believing  that  the  wholesale  conviction  and 
extreme  punishment  meted  out  to  the  eight  accused  men,  who,  for 
two  months,  were  subjected  to  what  should  have  been  a  “fair  and 
impartial  trial,”  was,  in  truth,  the  result  of  an  exaggerated  and 
excited  condition  of  public  sentiment. 

Very  Respectfully  Yours, 

W.  A.  Foster. 

Chicago,  III.,  October  16,  1888. 


CHAPTER  V. 


THE  TRIAL  OF  THE  JUDGMENT. 

The  Trial  of  the  Chicago  Anarchists  is  Ended,  but  the  Trial 
of  the  Judgment  Under  which  they  Suffered  is  Only  Just 
Begun — Odds  Against  the  Prisoners — The  Scales  of  Jus¬ 
tice  Poised  Unevenly  Between  the  Accused  and  the  State 
— The  Decision  Open  to  Severe  Criticism — Startling  Affi¬ 
davit  of'Otis  Favor — The  Chicago  “Tribune's”  Blood-Fund 
— $100,000  Raised  for  the  Jury — Judge  Gary's  Contribu¬ 
tions — The  Supreme  Court's  Arbitrary  and  Inconsistent 
Rulings — An  Artful  Plea  of  an  Advocate — The  Unfair 
Strategy  and  Tactics  Employed  by  the  State's  Attorney — 
He  Imitates  Mark  Antony — Packed  Jury — Thomas  Jeffer¬ 
son  and  Albert  R.  Parsons. 

These  extracts  are  taken  from  the  pamphlet  entitled  the  “Trial  of  the  Judg¬ 
ment,”  by  Gen.  M.  M.  Trumbull,  attorney-at-law,  Chicago,  in 
his  review  of  the  Anarchists’  case. 

REVIEW  OF  THE  TRIAL. 

On  the  nth  of  November,  1887,  four  men  were  hanged  in  Chi¬ 
cago  under  the  forms  of  law.  They  were  tried  by  a  jury,  and 
judgment  of  death  was  pronounced  against  them.  The  judgment 
was  affirmed  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  Illinois  and  ratified  by  the 
Governor.  The  public  conscience  is  becoming  uneasy  under  the 
suspicion  that  this  was  a  political  trial  and  a  class  execution,  like 
some  historic  attainders  which  have  left  the  imprint  of  bloody 
fingers  upon  the  jurisprudence  of  England.  It  is  averred  by  friends 
and  believed  by  many  enemies  of  the  condemned  men  that  their 
trial  was  unfair,  the  rulings  of  the  Courts  illegal,  and  the  sentence 
unjust.  The  trial  of  the  Chicago  Anarchists  is  ended,  but  the  trial 


THE  TRIAL  OF  THE  JUDGMENT. 


193 


of  the  judgment  under  which  they  suffered  is  only  just  begun. 
When  reason  and  courage  return  to  the  people  of  Illinois  that 
judgment  will  be  reversed,  and  the  terrified  magistrates  who  pro¬ 
nounced  it  and  sustained  it  will  be  sentenced  to  an  immortality  of 
derision.  It  will  be  reversed  as  emphatically  as  the  Dred  Scott 
judgment  was  reserved :  as  thousands  of  other  barbarous  judg¬ 
ments  have  been  reversed ;  as  righteousness  in  due  time  shall 
reverse  a  thousand  more.  The  march  of  civilization  is  over  the 
judgments  of  Supreme  Courts,  and  on  the  ruins  of  those  judgments 
humanity  lays  the  foundation  for  better  laws. 

5I?  vU  4^  a*  4^ 

There  are  state  trials  famous  in  history,  not  because  of  their 
dramatic  character  and  surroundings,  nor  because  of  the  magnitude 
of  the  crimes  involved,  but  because  in  those  trials  the  law  itself  was 
twisted  out  of  moral  symmetry  to  gratify  public  revenge;  justice 
was  violated  in  her  own  temple  and  the  fountain  of  liberty  polluted. 
This  case  will  be  memorable  also,  not  for  the  enormity  of  the  crime 
charged,  but  for  the  enormity  of  the  trial.  The  methods  of  pro¬ 
cedure  practiced  and  allowed  by  the  Judges  of  King  James’  time — 
methods  now  obsolete  in  England — have  been  revived  in  Illinois. 
Trial  by  jury  has  been  perverted,  even  to  the  shedding  of  innocent 
blood,  and  all  the  securities  of  liberty  have  been  put  in  jeopardy. 

Conspicuous  among  the  accused  in  this  indictment  stands  the 
Governor  of  Illinois.  Appalled  by  the  clamor  of  an  angry  populace, 
he  executed  vengeance  with  merciless  decision.  Panic-stricken  by 
the  noise  outside,  he  shut  his  ears  to  the  heart-broken  prayers  of 
children,  mothers,  and  wives  pleading  at  his  knees  for  father, 
husband,  son.  He  did  this,  although  he  knew  that  the  frightened 
Courts,  even  when  speaking  the  death  sentence,  had  confessed  that 
errors  prevailed  in  the  trial.  He  did  this,  when  as  a  lawyer  he 
knew  that  there  were  other  errors  in  the  trial  which  the  Courts  did 
not  confess.  He  had  an  opportunity  to  show  the  highest  quality  of 
magnanimous  power,  and  at  the  same  time  save  the  jurisprudence 
of  Illinois  from  the  stigma  which  must  disfigure  it  for  centuries  to 
come.  He  lacked  greatness  of  spirit,  and  his  opportunity  passed 


194 


THE  TRIAL  OF  THE  JUDGMENT. 


away.  Had  he  been  morally  tall  enough  to  reach  the  knees  of 
Abraham  Lincoln,  he  would  have  saved  the  State  of  Illinois  from 
“the  deep  damnation  of  this  taking  off/’ 

«i»  vl»  »!<  \[»  \l»  4; 

/Js  <}»  /|x  »|» 

% 

In  the  trial  of  the  Anarchists  the  law  itself  was  bent  and  strained 
to  the  breaking  point.  On  the  floor  of  the  court-house  they  stood 
at  a  perilous  disadvantage.  The  scales  of  justice  were  not  poised 
evenly  between  the  accused  and  the  State.  They  were  poor;  the 
prosecution  rich.  The  whole  machinery  of  the  city  and  county 
government  was  at  the  service  of  the  prosecution.  The  treasury 
was  reckless  of  cost.  The  police  force,  the  detective  force,  and 
every  official  influence  were  active  against  the  prisoners.  They  were 
beaten  from  the  start.  In  the  arena  of  life  or  death  they  fought 
against  odds  unfair  and  invincible.  They  played  for  a  jury  with 
dice  loaded  against  them.  The  indictment  was  a  bewildering  con¬ 
tradiction  of  sixty-nine  discordant  counts,  and  every  count  was  the 
horn  of  a  dilemma. 

The  course  pursued  by  the  counsel  for  the  State  was  unfair 
throughout  the  trial.  A  few  examples  of  the  strategy  and  tactics 
they  employed  will  prove  this  accusation.  They  were  permitted  to 
imitate  Mark  Antony  when  he  inflamed  the  passions  of  the  populace 
by  pointing  them  to  “Caesar’s  vesture  wounded.”  They  were  per¬ 
mitted  to  show  the  jury  not  only  the  wounded  vesture  of  Matthias 
Degan,  but  also  that  of  several  other  men  whose  names  were  not  in 
the  indictment  at  all.  They  were  permitted  to  call  the  attention  of 
the  jury  to  the  blood  upon  the  vesture,  after  the  style  of  Antony 
when  he  said : 

See  what  a  rent  the  envious  Casca  made — 

Through  this  the  well-beloved  Brutus  stabbed ; 

And  as  he  plucked  his  cursed  steel  away, 

Mark  how  the  blood  of  Caesar  followed  it. 

The  artful  stump  speech  of  Antony  was  perfectly  legitimate.  It 
was  not  made  in  a  judicial  proceeding,  but  in  a  political  contest. 
He  was  of  the  opposite  party  to  that  of  Brutus.  The  struggle  be¬ 
tween  them  was  for  the  possession  of  the  offices  and  the  control  of 


THE  TRIAL  OF  THE  JUDGMENT. 


195 


the  Government.  But  had  Antony  been  State’s  Attorney,  prose¬ 
cuting  Brutus  and  Cassius  under  an  indictment  for  the  murder  of 
Caesar,  the  Roman  Judges  would  not  have  allowed  him  to  practice 
before  a  jury  in  the  court-house  the  methods  he  employed  in  the 
streets  before  a  mob.  The  object  of  Antony  in  Caesar’s  case  and  of 
the  counsel  for  the  people  in  Degan’s  case  were  alike  to  excite  feel¬ 
ings  of  anger  and  revenge  in  the  men  they  were  talking  to — the 
jury  in  the  one  case,  the  mob  in  the  other.  There  was  no'  dispute 
whatever  about  the  matter  of  Degan’s  death,  and  therefore  the  ex¬ 
posure  of  his  wounded  vesture  to  the  jury  was  useless  and  super¬ 
fluous,  except  as  an  appeal  to  vengeance.  The  Supreme  Court, 
unwilling  to  sanction  such  a  method,  finds  a  weak  excuse  for  it, 
and  mildly  rebukes  it  thus : 

The  articles  in  question  were  presented  in  the  condition  in  which  they 
were  left  after  being  exposed  to  the  force  of  an  exploding  bomb,  for  the 
purpose  of  showing  the  power  of  dynamite  as  an  explosive  substance.  While 
this  kind  of  testimony  may  not  have  been  very  material,  we  cannot  see  that  it 
was  to  such  an  extent  incompetent  as  to  justify  a  reversal. 

No,  it  is  not  pretended  that  every  error  is  enough  of  itself  to 
justify  a  reversal,  but  when  the  errors  are  multitudinous,  as  they 
are  in  this  case,  a  new  trial  ought  to  have  been  allowed.  The  power 
of  dynamite  as  an  explosive  substance  was  not  in  issue.  It  was 
conceded  that  dynamite  was  an  explosive  substance,  and  that  a 
dynamite  bomb  killed  Degan.  The  jury  knew  that  dynamite  was 
an  explosive  substance.  They  knew  it  as  well  before  the  torn  and 
bloody  clothing  was  exhibited  as  they  did  afterward.  Mark  Antony 
could  as  pertinently  say  that  he  showed  the  rent  vesture  of  Caesar 
to  convince  the  people  that  daggers  had  the  power  to  cut.  The  ex¬ 
cuse  fails ;  the  purpose  of  the  exhibition  is  too  plain. 

The  speeches  to  the  jury  were  appeals  for  vengeance  on  the 
prisoners.  They  were  Anarchy  in  legal  robes,  vindictive  and  crim¬ 
son  as  the  speeches  for  which  the  defendants  themselves  were  tried. 
The  moral  discipline  of  the  bar  was  broken,  and  the  ethics  of  the 
profession  lowered  when  the  State’s  Attorney  condescended  to  pour 


196 


THE  TRIAL  OF  THE  JUDGMENT. 


angry  invective  and  personal  reproaches  upon  men  powerless  to 
reply.  The  dignity  of  the  legal  profession  shriveled  up  when  the 
counsel  for  the  people  offered  fact-statements  to  the  jury  free  from 
the  guards  and  sanctions  of  an  oath,  and  free  from  the  test  of  cross- 
examination.  Worse  than  all,  the  very  genius  of  advocacy  looked 
mendicant  and  ragged  when  the  State’s  Attorney  begged  for  ver¬ 
dict  on  the  niggling  plea  that  the  State  had  no  appeal  from  acquittal 
while  from  a  judgment  of  guilty  the  defendants  could  appeal  for  a 
reversal  to  the  Supreme  Court,  or  to  the  Governor  for  a  mitigation 
of  the  sentence.  This  was  almost  a  promise  that  a  death  sentence 
having  served  as  an  example  and  a  warning  the  death  penalty 
would  not  be  inflicted.  “Gentlemen  of  the  jury,  their  blood  be 
upon  us  and  upon  our  children,  not  upon  you.”  It  was  illegal  for 
the  State’s  Attorney  to  absolve  the  jury  from  any  portion  of  respon¬ 
sibility  for  the  sentence  of  death. 

“The  evil  that  men  do  lives  after  them,”  and  whenever  a  crim¬ 
inal  trial  becomes  historic  the  wrongs  done  in  its  prosecution  by 
either  bench  or  bar,  brand  themselves  in  marks  of  shame  upon  the 
perpetrators.  No  subsequent  greatness,  not  even  the  glory  of  judi¬ 
cial  integrity  nor  the  splendor  of  intellectual  achievement,  can 
erase  the  livid  lines  that  tell  of  deep  disgrace.  They  cling  like  a 
bar  sinister  to  character,  and  remain  visible  so  long  as  the  names 
of  the  wrong-doers  remain  visible  in  history. 

When  Mr.  Grinnell  told  the  jury  in  the  Anarchist  case  that  the 
defendants  were  on  trial  for  treason,  he  said  what  was  not  true. 
There  was  no  such  charge  against  them  in  the  indictment.  The 
jury,  however,  acted  on  the  statement  of  Mr.  Grinned,  believing  that 
the  State’s  Attorney  would  not  mislead  them  as  to  the  issues  they 
were  sworn  to  try.  It  is  very  likely  that  some  of  the  jurymen  still 
believe  that  the  Anarchists  were  hanged  for  treason.  This  parallel 
may  be  continued  farther.  The  fate  of  Raleigh  and  the  Anarchists 
was  the  same.  Commenting  on  the  case  Lord  Campbell  says : 

Of  course,  there  was  a  verdict  of  guilty,  and  the  atrocity  was  perpetrated 
of  ordering  him  to  be  executed  on  this  illegal  judgment. 


THE  TRIAL  OF  THE  JUDGMENT.  197 

In  training  public  opinion  to  the  hanging  point,  the  delusion  has 
been  spread  among  the  people  of  Illinois  that  a  judgment  obtained 
on  the  verdict  of  a  jury  and  affirmed  by  the  Courts  becomes  ipso 
facto  and  de  jure  legal.  But  law  is  only  a  branch  of  moral  science, 
and  the  Courts  of  righteousness  have  jurisdiction  over  all  its  judg¬ 
ments  to  reverse  them  or  sustain  them.  Nay,  tested  by  a  lower 
standard,  the  merely  human  rules  established  for  the  protection  of 
the  citizen  on  trial  for  his  life,  the  judgment  against  Raleigh  was 
not  only  unjust,  but  illegal.  This  is  the  decision  of  Lord  Campbell, 
himself  a  lawyer  and  Lord  Chief  Justice  of  England.  By  the  unani¬ 
mous  consent  of  the  bar  of  England,  the  judgment  against  Raleigh 
is  reversed.  Already  hundreds  of  Illinois  lawyers  admit  that  the 
judgment  against  the  Anarchists  was  illegal.  Before  long  it  will 
be  reversed  as  illegal  by  the  unanimous  opinion  of  the  bar.  Before 
the  tribunal  of  enlightened  conscience  the  trial  of  the  Anarchists 
must  itself  be  tried,  and  in  that  higher  Court  it  will  surely  be 
condemned. 

>Ss  'i'  >1/  r  '!/ 

*J*  *1* 

Never  before,  except  in  burlesque,  was  the  meaning  of  words 
reversed  as  in  the  Anarchists’  trial.  Logic  stood  on  its  head  and 
reasoned  with  its  heels.  Facts  absent  from  the  theory  of  the  pros¬ 
ecution  were  solemnly  claimed  as  evidence  to  establish  it.  It  was 
averred  that  if  certain  events  had  happened  which  did  not  happen 
they  would  have  shown  that  the  conspiracy  and  the  tragedy  were 
cause  and  consequence,  therefore  the  connection  is  proved.  This 
is  not  meant  for  ridicule,  and  its  grotesque  appearance  is  merely 
the  shadow  of  the  Supreme  Court  tracing  the  crime  back  to  the  , 
conspiracy.  It  is  the  language  of  the  opinion  itself  that  throws 
sarcasm  upon  the  dicision.  Here  is  the  claim  of  the  Supreme 
Court : 

The  mode  of  attack  as  made  corresponded  with  the  mode  of  attack  as 
planned. 

And  here  is  the  inconsequent  reasoning  by  which  that  claim  is 
supported : 


198 


THE  TRIAL  OF  THE  JUDGMENT. 


The  Desplaines  Street  station  was  in  sight  of  the  speakers’  wagon,  and 
only  a  short  distance  south  of  it.  7/*a  bomb  had  been  thrown  into  the  station 
itself,  and  if  the  policemen  had  been  shot  down  while  coming  out,  a  part  of 
the  conspiracy  would  have  been  literally  executed  just  as  it  was  agreed  upon. 

By  reasoning  upside  down  in  that  fashion  the  tragedy  in  the 
Haymarket  is  connected  with  a  conspiracy  that  was  not  carried  out, 
and  seven  men  vaguely  and  remotely  identified  with  said  “con¬ 
spiracy”  are  connected  with  a  bomb  thrown  by  “a  person  un¬ 
known,”  and  who  is  not  shown  to  have  had  any  association  what¬ 
ever  with  the  seven  men,  nor  any  connection  at  all  with  the  so-called 
conspiracy.  The  Supreme  Court  itself  virtually  rejects  the  theory 
that  Schnaubelt  threw  the  bomb,  for  the  more  comprehensive  drag¬ 
net  theory  that  it  was  thrown  by  “some  person  to  the  jurors  un¬ 
known.” 

*1*  >1/  vl/  \i»  «!•*  Slf 

'j'  «rJ>  »}»  yj»  *TS 

The  conspiracy  which  the  prosecution  attempted  to  show  on  the 
trial,  and  which  it  is  pretended  they  did  show,  was  not  carried  into 
execution  in  any  of  its  essential  details.  As  illustrated  and  ex¬ 
plained  by  the  Supreme  Court  itself,  it  was  a  conspiracy  that  aimed 
at  a  social  and  political  revolution.  Hundreds,  aye,  thousands  of 
men  were  engaged  in  it.  It  was  to  begin  by  the  throwing  of  bombs 
into  the  North  Avenue  station  and  into  other  stations  in  the  city. 
Well-drilled  men,  armed  with  rifles,  were  to  he  stationed  outside  to 
shoot  the  police  as  they  came  out ;  then  the  conspirators  were  to 
march  inward,  toward  the  heart  of  the  city,  destroying  whatever 
should  oppose  them ;  the  telegraph  wires  and  the  hose  of  the  fire¬ 
men  would  be  cut,  and  the  reign  of  Anarchy  begin.  Nothing  of  the 
kind  occurred ;  nothing  of  it  was  attempted ;  nothing  of  it  prepared 
for,  except  the  making  of  bombs  by  Lingg. 

According  to  the  conspiracy  relied  on  by  the  prosecution,  many 
men  should  have  been  engaged  in  it,  and  many  bombs  thrown.  In 
fact  only  one  bomb  was  thrown,  and  that  by  an  unknown  man. 
This  disproves  that  conspiracy,  and  tends  to  show  that  the  bomb- 
throwing  was  the  revengeful  act  of  one  man  alone.  There  were  no 
armed  men  with  rifles  anywhere,  and  the  claim  that  pistols  were 
fired  by  the  mob  is  disputed  by  strong  evidence.  Every  essential 


THE  TRIAL  OF  THE  JUDGMENT. 


199 


detail  of  the  alleged  conspiracy  was  absent  from  the  tragedy,  and 
for  want  of  the  necessary  facts  a  scaffold  was  built  of  “if”  and 
“would  have  been.” 

If  a  bomb  had  been  thrown  into  the  station,  and  if  the  policemen  had 
been  shot  down  while  coming  out,  a  part  of  the  conspiracy  would  have  been 
literally  executed. 

And  therefore  men  must  die  for  a  conspiracy  which  was  not  exe¬ 
cuted,  but  which  would  have  \heen  executed  if  something  which  never 
happened  had  been  done ;  a  conspiracy  of  which,  if  it  even  existed, 
some  of  the  condemned  men  could  not  possibly  have  had  any 
knowledge.  And  thus  the  evidence  in  the  case  overwhelmingly 
proves  that  the  mode  of  attack  as  made  corresponded  not  with  the 
mode  of  attack  as  planned. 

Had  the  indictment  been  simply  for  a  conspiracy  punishable 
by  fine  and  imprisonment,  the  prosecution  would  have  been  held 
down  to  clear  and  definite  allegations  with  which  the  evidence  would 
have  been  compelled  to  correspond.  As  it  was,  the  heavier  crime  of 
murder  .was  permitted  to  rest  upon  an  undefined  and  shadowy 
charge,  composed  of  opposite  and  contradictory  ingredients.  The 
so-called  conspiracy,  instead  of  being  a  substantial  accusation  based 
on  fact-averments  on  which  issue  might  be  taken,  was  nothing  but 
a  claim  growing  out  of  a  mass  of  incoherent  running  testimony, 
and  shifting  day  by  day.  The  conspiracy  was  a  remote  cloud, 
changing  its  form  continuously  in  obedience  to  the  changing  winds 
of  evidence.  One  day  it  was  like  a  weasel,  the  next  it  was  backed 
like  a  camel,  and  at  last  it  was  “very  like  a  whale.” 

Allowing  the  so-called  conspiracy  the  exaggerated  form  given 
to  it  by  the  State’s  Attorney,  the  parts  of  it  were  so  remote  from 
each  other,  and  from  the  defendants  respectively,  that  no<  criminal 
relationship  could  ever  be  established  between  them.  The  details 
of  it  could  never  have  been  set  forth  by  specific  averments  in  an  in¬ 
dictment.  It  was  a  huge  pretense,  composed  of  incoherent  stories 
and  contradictory  evidence.  It  was  a  constructive  conspiracy,  which 
could  not  have  stood  alone  in  any  civilized  Court,  and  yet  it  was 
held  good  enough  to  sustain  a  charge  of  murder  and  the  conviction 


200 


THE  TRIAL  OF  THE  JUDGMENT. 


of  eight  men.  The  suspicion  already  weighs  like  a  nightmare  on  the 
people  of  Illinois  that  men  were  hanged  in  Chicago  for  metaphorical 
treason  under  an  indictment  for  inferential  murder.  It  must  ever 


be  a  reproach  to  the  memory  of  Gov.  Oglesby  that  in  his  admin¬ 


istration  the  illegal  doctrine  of  constructive  murder  and  collateral 
guilt  was  affirmed  by  death  warrants  carrying  on  their  faces  the 
sanction  of  the  great  seal  of  Illinois. 


HOW  THE  JURY  WAS  SECURED. 

The  swift*  and  eager  verdict  of  the  jury  in  the  Anarchist  case 
justified  all  the  censure  which  has  been  cast  upon  the  trial.  They 


♦Twenty-four  hours  before  the  jury  retired  to  consider  their  verdict,  the  Chicago 
Tribune  opened  its  columns  for  the  solicitation  of  voluntary  contributions  to  pay  the 
jury  for  the  verdict !  It  was  suggested  that  a  sum  of  $100,000  be  raised  for  this 
purpose.  This  was  done  editorially.  Several  good  Christian  gentlemen  sent  their 
names  to  the  paper,  stating  the  sum  they  were  willing  to  contribute  to  the  blood- 
fund.  Possibly  this  may  have  had  something  to  do  with  the  “swift”  verdict.  A 
brother-in-law  of  one  of  the  jurors  was  in  constant  attendance  upon  them  ;  brothers- 
in-law  have  been  known  to  let  their  kinsmen  know  when  there  was.  a  good  thing 
in  prospect  for  them.  The  following  are  a  fair  sample  of  letters  from  some  of  those 
good  Christian  gentlemen  : 

“A  Fund  for  the  Jury.”  Chicago,  August  20,  1886. — Editor  of  the  Tribune:  In 
“view  of  the  long  and  close  confinement  endured  by  the  jury  in  the  Anarchist  trial 
“and  the  display  of  manly  courage  evidenced  by  their  prompt  and  fearless  verdict, 
“I  beg  to  suggest  the  propriety  of  starting  a  subscription  for  the  purpose  of  rais.ng 
“at  least  $1,000  for  the  benefit  of  each  juryman.  I  am  far  from  being  rich,  but 
“would  gladly  give  $25  for  this  purpose,  and  will  deliver  same  at  your  office  the  day 
“you  may  start  the  subscription.  W.  C.  E.” 

“Chicago,  August  20,  1886. — Editor  of  the  Tribune:  The  long  agony  is  over.  Law 
“has  triumphed.  Anarchy  is  defeated.  The  conspirators  have  been  promptly  con¬ 
victed.  Let  them  be  as  promptly  punished.  The  ‘twelve  good  men  and  true,’  whose 
“honesty  and  fearlessness  made  a  conviction  possible  should  not  be  forgotten.  They 
“have  performed  their  unpleasant  duty  without  flinching.  Let  them  be  generously 
“remembered.  Raise  a  fund — say  $100,000 — -  to  be  presented  with  the  thanks  of  a 
“grateful  people.  U-  A.  Mulford.”  _ 

“Mr  N  B.  Ream,  in  speaking  to  a  Tribune  reporter,  thought  it  would  be  emi¬ 
nently  proper  to  start  a  fund  for  the  purpose  of  indemnifying  the  jurors  who  so 
“^a+iorHiTr  oof  Pie-ht  weeks  at.  the  trial,  thereby  losing  in  business  and  time  and 


i — ,,  Fha  “Vinnnmhip”  .Tndse  has  to  say  from  the  bench  in  thanking  the  jury  for 


THE  TRIAL  OF  THE  JUDGMENT. 


201 


were  out  only  three  hours  altogether,  and  most  of  that  time  was 
occupied  in  fixing  the  punishment  of  Neebe.  The  trial  had  lasted 
eight  weeks,  the  indictment  contained  sixty-nine  counts ;  there  were 
eight  men  on  trial;  the  evidence  amounted  to  volumes  of  all  sorts 
of  testimony,  some  of  it  applying  to  one  of  the  prisoners,  some  of  it 
to  another,  some  of  it  to  two  or  three  of  them,  and  scarcely  any  of 
it  to  all  of  them.  The  instructions  of  the  Court  were  numerous  and 
intricate,  requiring  careful  discrimination  in  the  reading  of  them, 
and  the  offense  charged  was  murder,  committed  by  the  explosion 
of  a  bomb  which  it  was  conceded  none  of  the  defendants  threw.  It 
is  hardly  possible  that  the  jury  could  have  read  the  instructions  at 
all ;  certainly  they  could  not  have  compared  them  with  the  testi¬ 
mony.  They  could  hardly  have  read  the  indictment  in  three  hours, 
and  they  could  not  have  reconciled  its  contradictory  counts  in  three 
years.  They  certainly  never  attempted  to  separate  the  evidence 
against  one  from  the  evidence  against  the  others.  They  simply 
applied  the  whole  of  it  to  each  of  the  defendants  and  found  them 
all  guilty  of  murder  in  the  first  degree.  It  was  the  easiest  thing  to 
do,  for  their  brains  were  all  rumpled  and  disordered  by  the  mysteries 
of  collateral  guilt  and  clairvoyant  combination  to  kill. 

Vf  «(«  \[*  \l»  vj/ 

^  ^  ^  w 

That  the  bailiff  had  the  power  to  pack  the  jury  is  not  denied  by 
anybody;  that  he  did  pack  the  jury  is  disputed,  but  the  evidence 
against  him  is  very  strong;  that  he  said  he  would  pack  the  jury  is 
charged  by  affidavit  of  Otis  Favor,  a  citizen  of  Chicago,  personally 
acquainted  with  the  bailiff.  This  affidavit  has  not  yet  been  answered 


“in  regard  to  the  case  that  you  have  tried  or  verdict  you  have  rendered,  but  men 
“compulsorily  serving  as  jurors,  as  you  have  done,  deserve  some  recognition  of  the 
“service  you  have  performed  besides  the  meager  compensation  you  have  received.” 

Now  the  “hardships”  consisted  in  the  jury’s  being  put  up  at  a  fashionable  hotel, 
just  across  from  the  court-house,  and  in  sight  of  the  entrance,  so  they  could  observe 
the  part  played  by  the  police  and  detectives.  The  latter  fairly  swarmed  about  the 
door,  and  as  the  jury  filed  past  many  times  they  were  heard  to  make  such  remarks 
about  the  case  as  to  prejudice  still  further  the  already  prejudiced  jury’s  minds.  The 
“sacrifice”  was  relieved  by  giving  the  jury  carriage  rides  every  Sunday  along  the 
avenues  of  the  rich,  and  occasionally  letting  a  juror  visit  his  family,  it  being  alleged 
that  there  was  sickness  in  the  family.  But  this  was  done  possibly  because  they  were 
a  jury  of  “gentlemen”  and  a  jury  of  “business  men.” 


202 


THE  TRIAL  OF  THE  JUDGMENT. 


by  a  counter-affidavit,  and  the  presumption  arises  that  it  is  true. 
That  the  trial  Court  denied  an  application  for  leave  to  examine  Otis 
Favor  as  a  witness  to  the  misconduct  of  the  bailiff  is  confessed  and 
admitted  in  the  record.  In  justice  to  all  the  parties  concerned  it  is 
only  fair  that  the  whole  matter  of  the  bailiff’s  alleged  misconduct 
should  be  impartially  set  forth. 

Otis  Favor  is  a  man  of  high  character  and  standing,  doing  busi¬ 
ness  in  Chicago,  and*  he  was  personally  well  acquainted  with  Ryce, 
the  bailiff.  After  the  trial  was  over  Favor  told  Mr.  E.  A.  Stevens 
that  when  Ryce  was  selecting  the  jury  he  said  to  Favor,  in  sub¬ 
stance  this :  “I  am  managing  this  case,  and  I  know  what  I  am  about. 
Those  fellows  will  hang  as  certain  as  death.  I  am  summoning  as 
jurors  such  men  as  they  will  be  compelled  to  challenge,  and  when 
they  have  exhausted  their  challenges  they  will  have  to  take  such 
a  jury  as  is  satisfactory  to  the  State.”  Stevens  made  affidavit 
that  Favor  told  him  this  in  private  conversation.  Thereupon  de¬ 
fendants,  in  their  application  for  a  new  trial,  asked  that  Favor  be 
summoned  and  examined  as  to  the  alleged  boast  of  Ryce.  This  ap¬ 
plication  was  refused,  the  judge  deciding  that  the  Court  had  no 
power  to  order  the  attendance  at  that  time  of  Otis  Favor.  It  should 
be  stated  here  that  Mr.  Favor  refused  to  appear  and  testify  or  to 
make  any  affidavit  unless  required  to  do  so  by  an  order  of  the  Court. 
The  order  was  refused.  He  made  the  affidavit  afterward. 

The  plea  of  the  Supreme  Court  that  it  does  not  appear  that  the 
defendants  were  harmed  by  the  remark  of  Ryce  to  Favor,  and  that 
there  is  nothing  to  show  that  Ryce  said  anything  to  the  jurors  whom 
he  summoned,  is  an  ancient  manoeuvre  in  sophistry.  It  is  useful  to 
divert  the  argument  and  send  it  in  a  wrong  direction.  In  fox  hunt¬ 
ing  times  it  was  figuratively  called  “throwing  the  hounds  off  the 
scent.”  A  fellow  with  a  red  herring  in  his  pocket  could  trail  the 
dogs  away  off  to  the  north  while  the  fox  was  running  to  the  south. 
It  is  the  affectation  of  ignorance  to  pretend  that  the  defendants 
claimed  that  harm  was  done  to  them  by  the  remark  of  Ryce  to 
Favor.  The  Supreme  Court  knew  better.  The  complaint  of  the 
defendants  was  that  they  were  harmed  by  the  packing  of  the  jury, 
of  which  the  remark  of  Ryce  to  Favor  was  merely  evidence,  an 


THE  TRIAL  OF  THE  JUDGMENT. 


203 


acknowledgment,  and  a  boast.  Neither  did  they  claim  to  be  injured 
by  anything  said  by  Ryce  to  the  jurors  whom  he  summoned.  The 
complaint  was  that  the  jurors  themselves  were  picked  and  the  jury 
packed.  They  objected  to  what  Ryce  did,  not  what  he  said.  They 
complained  that  Ryce  summoned  a  jury  not  to  try  them,  but  to 
hang  them.  The  acts  of  Ryce  are  not  to  be  obscured  by  a  cloud  of 
controversy  as  to  what  he  said. 

The  Supreme  Court  intimates  that  it  was  necessary  to  show  that 
the  defendants  were  actually  harmed  by  the  illegalities  and  errors 
they  complained  of  in  relation  to  the  jury.  The  Court  may  make 
that  ruling  a  precedent,  but  never  can  make  it  law.  It  is  not  any¬ 
where  in  Christendom  that  man  condemned  to  die  shall  show  in  his 
appeal  that  he  was  harmed  by  the  selection  of  a  partial,  prejudiced, 
or  illegal  jury.  The  sentence  of  death  runs  through  all  the  record, 
and  is  of  itself  an  omnipresent  showing  of  harm.  The  law  presumes 
harm  to  every  man  sentenced  to  death  by  a  vitiated  or  illegal  jury. 
Suppose  that  Ryce  had  selected  persons  disqualified  and  incompe¬ 
tent  by  law,  and  that  one  of  those  persons  had  actually  served  upon 
the  jury,  will  the  Supreme  Court  pretend  that  a  man  condemned  to 
death  by  a  jury  thus  imperfect  must  show  that  he  has  been  harmed 
by  the  wrongful  selection  before  he  can  take  advantage  of  the 
error  ?  The  error  being  shown,  the  law  raises  a  conclusive  presump¬ 
tion  of  harm  to  the  defendant.  There  may  be  error  without  preju¬ 
dice  even  in  capital  cases,  but  in  the  Anarchist  case  there  was  too 
much  of  it.  It  was  grim  sport  to  mock  men  on  the  steps  of  the 
gallows  by  telling  them  that  they  were  not  harmed  by  the  errors  and 
illegalities  perpetrated  at  their  trial.  What  greater  harm  can  befall 
a  man  than  to  die  upon  the  scaffold? 

The  Supreme  Court  pieced  out  the  case  for  the  prosecution  by 
the  following  amendment: 

In  addition  to  this,  it  is  not  shown  that  the  defendants  served  Favor  with 
a  subpoena,  so  as  to  lay  a  foundation  for  compelling  his  attendance. 

This  curious  reason  never  presented  itself  either  to  the  District 
Attorney  or  the  Court  below.  Naturally  it  would  not,  because  the 
defendants  had  no  power  to  serve  Favor  with  a  subpoena.  The  trial 
was  over ;  they  had  no  case  before  the  Court  except  a  motion  for  a 


204 


THE  TRIAL  OF  THE  JUDGMENT. 


new  trial,  supported  as  to  matters  outside  the  record  by  affidavit. 
They  could  not  introduce  unwilling  testimony  to  sustain  the  motion 
except  by  order  of  the  Court,  and  this  order  they  were  seeking  to 
obtain.  Their  showing  was  that  Favor  would  not  voluntarily  give 
evidence,  nor  make  affidavit,  and  they  prayed  the  Court  to  order  a 
subpoena  to  be  served  upon  him  that  he  might  be  compelled  to 
appear  and  testify. 

When,  on  the  9th  of  November,  intercession  was  made  to  the 
Governor  for  a  commutation  of  the  sentence,  this  accusing  affidavit 
was  read  to  him  by  Capt.  Black.  He  was  evidently  unprepared  for 
it,  and  it  startled  him  like  a  sting  of  electricity.  He  had  steeled 
himself  against  everything  but  the  clamor  of  the  irrational  crowd, 
and  his  heart  was  closed.  With  strong  self-discipline  he  had  nerved 
himself  to  show  no  sign  of  human  feeling,  but  this  affidavit  stirred 
him  beyond  control,  and  in  a  moment  of  emotion  he  exclaimed, 
“Was  that  statement  offered  in  Court?”  Being  assured  that  it  was, 
he  saw  that  he  had  betrayed  himself  into  the  hands  of  amnesty. 
He  escaped  again  in  a  moment  and  showed  no  further  symptoms  of 
palpitation  of  the  heart.  He  retired  into  his  gloomy  fortifications, 
and  there  he  shut  himself  up  until  the  end,  deaf  to  reason,  justice, 
law,  mercy,  and  religion.  That  morning  he  offered  a  very  good 
resemblance  to  King  George  IV.  as  he  is  described  in  the  satire  of 
Thomas  Moore : 

His  table  strewed  with  tea  and  toast, 

Death  warrants  and  the  Morning  Post. 

He  dismissed  the  pleading  delegations,  and  the  next  day  he 
sent  the  death  warrants  to  Chicago. 

It  is  in  the  record  and  not  to  be  denied  that  the  State’s  Attorney, 
in  his  eager  zeal  for  death,  broke  through  the  lines  of  profes¬ 
sional  etiquette,  which  the  humane  spirit  of  the  law  has  thrown 
around  his  office.  It  is  laid  down  in  the  books  that  the  prosecuting 
attorney,  like  the  Judge,  shall  stand  absolutely  impartial  between  the 
prisoner  and  the  State.  He  must  not  revile  the  prisoner,  nor  insult 
him.  He  must  not  make  fact-statements  in  his  argument,  nor  offer 
to  the  jury  his  own  opinion  on  the  question  of  guilt  or  innocence, 


THE  TRIAL  OF  THE  JUDGMENT. 


205 


because,  if  he  is  a  popular  man,  in  whom  the  jury  have  great  con¬ 
fidence,  his  mere  opinion  may  have  greater  weight  than  the  sworn 
testimony  of  other  men.  All  these  rules  were  violated  in  this  case 
against  the  protest  of  the  defendants’  counsel,  and  the  Supreme 
Court  decides  that  the  “improprieties”  were  not  serious  enough  to 
affect  the  judgment.  The  Supreme  Court  of  Massachusetts  once 
decided1  that  “a  man  had  a  right  to  quibble  for  his  life.”  This  is 
true,  but  it  is  a  ghastly  sight  to  see  a  lawyer  quibble  for  the  death 
of  his  fellow-men. 

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  * 

In  selecting  a  jury  to  try  the  Anarchists  the  principle  of  impar¬ 
tiality  was  violated.  The  form  of  the  statute  may  have  been  ob¬ 
served,  but  the  spirit  of  the  law  was  not.  Whole  classes  of  qualified 

« 

persons  were  stricken  from  the  jury  lists,  or  at  least  they  were  not 
summoned  in  the  case,  which  amounts  to  the  same  thing.  Unfor¬ 
tunately  these  were  what  are  known  as  the  “working  classes,”  the 
classes  to  which  the  defendants  belonged,  and  of  which,  in  part, 
they  were  supposed  to  be  representative  in  Socialistic  and  political 
opinions.  These  were  disqualified  for  jurymen  as  effectually  as  if 
they  had  been  disfranchised  altogether.  The  whole  machinery  of 
legal  administration  was  in  the  hands  of  the  prosecution ;  and  a 
common  bailiff,  a  subordinate  part  of  the  machinery,  was  made 
absolute  dictator  and  autocrat  of  a  jury.  The  honest  safeguard 
known  as  “drawing”  for  a  jury  was  not  observed.  The  equal  chance 
which  the  “drawing”  of  jurors  from  a  list  of  disqualified  voters  gives 
to  both  sides  was  not  given  to  the  defendants.  The  jurors  were  not 
“drawn,”  but  “summoned.”  They  were  summoned  by  a  mere 
bailiff,  man  by  man,  at  his  own  arbitrary  will  and  pleasure.  After 
he  had  strained  and  filtered  the  jury  population  of  every  man 
belonging  to  the  same  classes  as  the  defendants,  the  prosecution 
was  allowed  to  filter  even  his  unfair  selection  by  120  peremptory 
challenges.  Even  of  the  twelve  who  tried  the  case,  nine  confessed 
themselves  prejudiced  against  Socialists,  Anarchists,  and  Commun¬ 
ists,  while  some  of  them  even  admitted  that  they  were  prejudiced 
against  the  defendants.  Yet  this  is  the  jury  “whose  province  it  was” 


206 


THE  TRIAL  OF  THE  JUDGMENT. 


to  pass  upon  all  the  evidence,  and  who  were  “warranted  in  believ¬ 
ing”  anything  against  the  defendants.  To  hang  men  on  the  verdict 
of  a  jury  thus  chosen  and  impaneled  will  he  a  stain  upon  the 
jurisprudence  of  Illinois  long  after  all  the  actors  in  the  drama  shall 
have  passed  away. 

\U  «i>  \|<  »}# 

»l' 

Wherever  the  evidence  is  weak,  false,  contradictory,  improb¬ 
able,  or  impossible,  redress  is  denied  on  the  ground  that  it  was  “the 
province  of  the  jury”  to  act  upon  it  in  their  own  way.  The  testi¬ 
mony  is  important  if  true,  reasons  the  Supreme  Court,  unimport¬ 
ant  if  false ;  there  is  enough  without  it. 

In  that  very  dangerous  way  a  jury  manifestly  unfriendly  to  the 
defendants  is  made  sole  critic  of  the  evidence.  It  is  in  the  appeal 
of  the  defendants  that  the  jury  itself  was  not  “impartial,”  that  it 
was  a  class  jury,  not  fairly  chosen  from  “the  body  of  the  county;” 
that  care  was  taken  to  select  persons  hostile  to  the  accused  even, 
from  the  classes  drawn  upon,  and  that  the  State  was  allowed  a 
greater  number  of  challenges  than  the  law  intended ;  a  number 
which,  whether  legal  or  not,  gave  the  prosecution  an  unfair  ad¬ 
vantage.  Yet  this  jury  is  given  absolute  ownership  of  the  evidence 
in  the  case,  to  use  it  at  their  own  discretion  for  one  side  and  against 
the  other,  even  to  the  hanging  of  seven  men.  The  Supreme  Court 
abdicates  its  power  to  pass  upon  the  character,  quality,  and  suffi¬ 
ciency  of  evidence  in  the  most  important  case  ever  tried  in  the  State 
of  Illinois.  This  in  tiresome  phraseology,  repeated  over  and  over 
again. 

“ The  jury  were  wwr anted  in  believing  that  the  bomb  was  made 
by  Lingg “the  jury  were  warranted  in  believing  that  the  Haymar- 
ket  meeting  was  not  intended  to  be  peaceable;”  “the  jury  were  war¬ 
ranted  in  believing  that  the  bomb  was  thrown  and  the  shots  fired  as 
a  part  of  the  execution  of  the  conspiracy ;”  “it  zvas  for  the  jury  to  say 
whether  the  evidence  for  the  defense  was  more  worthy  of  belief ;” 
“the  jury  had  the  right  to  look  at  it  in  the  light  of  the  principles  ad¬ 
vocated  by  the  International  organization ;”  “it  zuas  for  the  jury  to 
say  how  far  that  fatal  result  may  have  been  brought  about  through 


THE  TRIAL  OF  THE  JUDGMENT. 


207 


the  influence  of  the  utterances  put  forth  by  the  organs  here  desig¬ 
nated  “the  jury  were  warranted  in  believing  that  Parsons  was  as¬ 
sociated  with  the  man  who  threw  the  bomb “it  was  for  the  jury  to 
say  whether  any  others  than  the  members  of  that  conspiracy  had 
undertaken  to  make  such  weapons and  so  on,  in  monotonous 
formulary,  page  after  page.  A  jury  which  the  defendants  allege 
was  not  impartial  is  made  infallible  judge  of  the  legal  and  moral 
quality  of  all  the  evidence. 

J.  *1.  xix 

The  State’s  Attorney,  knowing  that  the  Judge  had  made  a  mis¬ 
take  in  ruling  that  the  Court  had  no  power  to  compel  Otis  Favor  to 
appear  and  testify,  deserted  his  friend  and  abandoned  in  the  Su¬ 
preme  Court  the  erroneous  ruling  which  he  had  taken  advantage  of 
in  the  Court  below.  He  left  it  outside  on  the  door-step,  like  an 
illegitimate  waif,  and  substituted  another  reason  for  it.  He  said  that 
it  was  a  matter  in  the  discretion  of  the  Court  and  that — 

The  Court  exercised  the  proper  discretion  in  refusing  to  have  anything 
to  do  with  it,  because  no  injury  and  no  prejudice  had  resulted  from  the  alleged 
conduct  of  said  bailiff  against  any  defendant. 

He  knew  when  he  wrote  that  in  his  brief  that  the  jury  thus  un¬ 
fairly  chosen  by  the  bailiff  had  actually  condemned  seven  men  to 
death.  A  mere  trifle,  your  honors,  a  mere  trifle,  from  which  “no 
injury  and  no  prejudice  has  resulted. 

Still  feeling  insecure,  the  State’s  Attorney,  with  daring  hardi¬ 
hood,  confessed  the  accusation  he  was  unable  to  deny.  With  a 
brazen  effrontery  that  reminds  us  of  the  crown  prosecutors  of  the 
olden  time,  he  asserted  that  the  bailiff  acted  well.  Quoting  the 
charge  against  Ryce,  he  said: 

There  is  nothing  objectionable  in  all  this,  if  true,  and  it  means  simply  that 
Ryce  was  endeavoring  to  summon  intelligent  and  competent  jurors,  against 
whom  no  ground  of  objection  and  no  cause  of  challenge  could  be  laid.  The 
statute  says  that  he  shall  summon  persons  having  the  “qualifications  of 
jurors,”  etc.  Did  counsel  expect  him  to  summon  disqualified  and  incompetent 
jurors? 

The  boast  of  Ryce  was  that  he  was  summoning  such  jurors  as 


208 


THE  TRIAL  OF  THE  JUDGMENT. 


the  defendants  would  be  “compelled  to  challenge the  State’s  At¬ 
torney  says  that  this  “simply  means  that  he  was  endeavoring  to 
secure  jurors  against  whom  no  cause  of  challenge  could  be  laid.” 
Such  wrenching  of  words  and  distortion  of  their  meaning  could 
only  be  ventured  on  by  an  attorney  confident  that  the  Court  was 
with  him,  and  that  his  case  was  safe. 

An  opinion  is  prevalent  in  Illinois  that  Parsons  was  hanged  for 
obstinacy ;  that  he  defied  the  commonwealth,  and  scorned  to  beg 
for  his  life,  therefore  the  proud  State  strangled  him  in  its  rage.  It 
is  claimed  that  under  the  law  the  Governor  could  not  reprieve  him 
until  he  begged  for  mercy  and  a  commutation  of  the  sentence. 
This  mistake  has  been  petted  by  the  newspapers  in  order  to  lighten 
the  guilt  of  the  November  tragedy  and  transfer  the  sin  of  this 
man’s  death  from  the  Governor  to  the  victim.  The  excuse  is  false 
and  ignominious.  When  the  attorneys  and  friends  of  Parsons 
asked  for  his  life,  the  law  was  complied  with  in  the  letter  and  the 
spirit. 

A  man  may  not  lawfully  commit  suicide,  neither  can  he  make 
a  present  of  his  life  to  the  State;  and  should  he  tender  the  gift,  the 
commonwealth  must  not  accept  it.  This  is  religion ;  and  there  is 
law  for  it  also.* 

THOMAS  JEFFERSON  AND  ALBERT  R.  PARSONS. 

To  hang  Parsons  and  spare  Fielden  was  illogical,  and  the  rea¬ 
sons  given  for  the  anomaly  change  the  execution  of  November  n 
into  a  sacrifice,  a  punishment  into  a  martyrdom.  Judge  Gary  and 
Mr.  Grinnell  begged  clemency  for  Fielden  on  the  ground  that  the 
evidence  did  not  justify  the  verdict  and  the  sentence.  The  evidence 
that  convicted  Fielden  convicted  the  others,  and  the  argument  for 
him  applies  to  all. 

*The  General  here  gives  a  decision  from  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State  of 
New  York,  sustaining  this  position. 


THE  TRIAL  OF  THE  JUDGMENT. 


209 


If  Fielden  is  innocent  of  murder,  why  is  he  imprisoned  in  the 
penitentiary;  and  why  was  Parsons  hanged?  Truly,  there  must  be 
guilt  somewhere.  The  Supreme  Court  makes  Parsons  guilty  on  the 
ground  that  he  was  present  at  the  Haymarket  meeting  and  spoke. 
The  Court  acknowledged  that  he  was  in  Cincinnati  on  Monday,  and 
knew  nothing  at  all  about  the  pretended  conspiracy  claimed  to  have 
been  formed  that  night.  It  was  conceded  that  the  speech  of  Par¬ 
sons  was  moderate  in  tone ;  that  he  had  his  wife  and  children  with 
him ;  that  he  left  before  the  arrival  of  the  police,  did  no  pistol  shoot¬ 
ing,  gave  no  signal,  and  was  not  present  when  the  bomb  was  thrown. 
But  he  was  present  at  the  meeting  in  company  and  association  with 
Fielden,  and  thus  adopted  the  “conspiracy”  of  Monday  night,  al¬ 
though  he  never  knew  a  word  about  it.  He  was  Fielden’s  accom¬ 
plice,  and  for  that  he  was  hanged.  After  the  acknowledgment  made 
by  Judge  Gary  and  Mr.  Grinnell,  there  is  literally  nothing  left 
against  either  Fielden  or  Parsons.  *  *  *  Seditious  writing  and 

inflammatory  speech  are  not  murder,  but  capital  punishment  in¬ 
flicted  upon  men  for  either  offense  is  murder. 

Had  the  Illinois  rulings  been  good  law  in  Jefferson’s  time  he 
might  have  been  hanged  at  any  period  in  his  active  political  career. 
He  was  an  Anarchist.  Not  an  amateur,  speculative  Anarchist,  but  a 
physical-force  Anarchist,  and  an  avowed  enemy  of  Government. 
His  biographers  have  tried  to  explain  away  the  “no  Government” 
theory  of  Jefferson,  but  that  he  cherished  and  advocated  the  theory 
cannot  be  denied.  The  following  quotation  is  not  from  th eArbeitcr- 
Zeitung  nor  the  Alarm;  it  is  from  Jefferson’s  letter  excusing  the 
Massachusetts  rebellion ;  not  the  rebellion  against  Great  Britain, 
but  the  rebellion  against  the  United  States : 

God  forbid  we  should  ever  be  twenty  years  without  such  a  rebellion. 
*  *  *  What  country  can  preserve  its  liberties  if  its  rulers  are  not  warned 

from  time  to  time  that  this  people  preserve  the  spirit  of  resistance?  Let 
them  take  arms.  What  signify  a  few  lives  lost  in  a  century  or  two?  The  tree 
of  liberty  must  be  refreshed  from  timie  to  time  by  the  blood  of  patriots  and 
tyrants.  It  is  its  natural  manure. 

Did  Fielden,  Parsons,  or  Spies  utter  anything  more  sanguinary 
than  that,  or  anything  more  Anarchical  than  this ; 


210 


THE  TRIAL  OF  THE  JUDGMENT. 


I  am  convinced  that  those  societies  which  live  without  Government  enjoy 
in  their  general  mass  an  infinitely  greater  degree  of  happiness  than  those  who 
live  under  the  European  Governments.  Among  the  former  public'  opinion  is 
in  the  place  of  law,  restraining  morals  as  powerfully  as  law  ever  did  any¬ 
where.  Societes  exist  in  three  forms : 

1.  Without  Governments. 

2.  Under  Governments  wherein  every  one  has  a  just  influence. 

3.  Under  Governments  of  force. 

It  is  a  problem  not  clear  in  my  mind  that  the  first  condition  is  not  the  best. 

The  question  is  not  whether  those  opinions  were  wise  or  foolish, 
wicked  or  charitable,  but  had  Mr.  Jefferson  the  right  to  express 
them?  And  having  expressed  them,  could  he  have  been  hanged 
because  riots  followed  them  in  which  the  “tree  of  liberty”  was 
“refreshed  with  the  blood”  of  some  policeman  or  other  agent  of  the 
Government  ? 


PART  VIII. 


CHAPTER  I. 

REMINISCENCES  OF  ALBERT  R.  PARSONS. 

How,  as  a  Youth,  He  Was  Regarded  in  His  Boyhood  Home — 
An  Expression  from  a  Gentleman  Who  Knew  Him  in  the 
Early  Days — “When  Death  Comes  He  Will  Face  It  Like  a 
Thoroughbred" — A  Picture  of  His  Character  Drawn  by  a 
Friend  and  Co-Laborer  of  Later  Years — A  Brief  Summary 
of  His  Part  in  the  Haymarket  Affair — His  Easy  Success 
in  Eluding  the  Vigilant  Detective  Officials — His  Sojourn 
at  Waukesha — His  Triumphant  Return  and  Surrender  in 
Open  Court  After  Running  the  Gauntlet  of  Scores  of 
Searching  Detectives — “I  Present  Myself  for  Trial." 

PARSONS’  BOYHOOD  DAYS. 

Taken  from  a  Correspondence  to  the  Courier- Journal ,  Louisville ,  Ky.,  Sep¬ 
tember  21,  1886. 

In  speaking  of  the  career  of  Anarchist  Parsons  in  Waco,  a  Mem¬ 
phis  gentleman  who  was  intimate  with  him  there,  says :  “I  knew 
him  intimately  when  I  lived  in  Waco  in  18 66.  In  fact,  we  have 
slept  together  more  than  once.  He  was  a  devilish  good  fellow,  too, 
and  I  am  sorry  to  know  that  he  is  in  such  a  scrape." 

“How  was  he  regarded  in  Waco?" 

“As  a  well-disposed,  well-mannered  young  man,  a  little  wild,  as 
most  of  us  were  in  those  days — in  fact,  as  wild  as  a  buck;  but  I 
never  heard  of  his  doing  anything  desperate.  He  moved  in  the  best 
society  the  place  afforded,  and  his  pleasant  ways  made  him  welcome 
wherever  he  went.  He  was  not  at  all  reckless  or  quarrelsome,  but 


211 


/ 


212  PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES. 

was  as  clean  grit  as  any  man  that  ever  drew  breath  in  Texas.  He 
showed  what  he  was  made  of  on  one  occasion,  when  there  was  a 
collision  between  the  citizens  and  the  Federal  soldiers  stationed  at 
Waco.  I  never  saw  a  braver  man  than  Albert  Parsons,  and,  mark 
my  words,  when  death  comes  he  will  face  it  like  a  thoroughbred.” 

PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES  OF  ALBERT  R.  PARSONS. 

By  an  Old  Friend  and  Comrade. 

I  first  met  Albert  R.  Parsons  in  1880,  but  for  two  or  three 
years  had  few  opportunities  of  becoming  better  acquainted.  I  first 
realized  the  natural  power  and  vigor  of  his  character  at  a  mass-meet¬ 
ing  of  the  Telegraphers’  Union  during  their  great  strike  in  1883. 
On  the  evening  of  August  3  he  delivered  a  speech  that  stirred  the 
large  audience  to  the  highest  pitch  of  enthusiasm.  His  eloquent 
words  put  new  strength  and  courage  in  the  hearts  of  those  who  were 
struggling  against  a  great  monopoly  for  a  chance  to  live,  and 
started  many  a  young  thinker  in  the  study  of  social  and  industrial 
science.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  this  speech  was  not  preserved ; 
it  was  a  most  able  arraignment  of  the  present  system,  containing 
nothing  which  could  be  termed  “incendiary,”  being  full  of  logic  and 
fair  reasoning. 

In  the  winter  of  1883-4  I  joined  the  American  Group  of  the 
International,  and  for  over  two  years  missed  no  regular  meetings 
held  by  that  organization;  most  of  these  were  attended  by  Mr. 
Parsons,  and  nearly  always  addressed  by  him.  During  this  time  he 
made  frequent  agitation  trips,  speaking  wherever  an  opportunity 
occurred,  and  accepting  every  invitation  his  time  and  strength  would 
permit  of.  He  was  at  one  time  invited  to  present  his  views  of 
Socialism  to  a  society  connected  with  Dr.  Thomas’  church ;  he 
there  made  a  most  remarkable  speech,  impressing  his  hearers  in 
spite  of  themselves  and  astonishing  the  learned  listeners  that  a 
“workingman”  and  a  much-abused  Socialist  should  speak  to  them  so 
ably  and  so  well.  One  who  was  not  kindly  disposed  toward  the 
speaker’s  theories,  after  hearing  him  on  this  occasion  proposed  in 
answer  to  John  Swinton’s  published  request  for  the  coming  orator. 


PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES. 


213 


the  name  of  Albert  R.  Parsons.  No  audience  or  circle  of  people 
ever  in  any  way  disconcerted  him.  Dignified  and  eloquent  before 
a  society  of  cultured  students,  he  was  also  genial,  witty,  and  sociable 
in  a  crowd  of  merry-makers ;  he  was  equal  in  debate  with  the  most 
learned,  and  could  at  the  same  time  make  himself  clearly  under¬ 
stood  by  the  most  unlettered.  He  could  dive  deep  into  metaphysics 
of  philosophy  with  the  student,  and  exchange  light  repartee  and 
brilliant  nothings  with  the  gay  and  light-hearted.  My  home  at  that 
time  was  near  that  of  the  Parsons’,  and  those  weekly  walks  with 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Parsons  and  sometimes  one  or  two>  other  friends  are 
memorable  incidents  in  my  life.  He  was  an  excellent  mimic,  and 
would  sometimes,  where  he  thought  no  one  would  be  hurt,  “take  off  “ 
the  eccentricities  of  people  in  a  very  laughable  manner.  Whatever 
the  subject  talked  of  he  was  ever  interesting.  I  used  to  believe 
nothing  in  life  could  be  more  pleasant  than  to  gather  with  Mr. 
Parsons,  his  wife,  Mr.  Spies,  Mr.  Fielden,  and  others  around  a 
table,  or  in  a  social  circle,  and  listen  to  the  conversation  that  flowed 
and  sparkled  on  so  smoothly. 

I  was  appointed  by  the  Alarm  Publishing  Association  as  an 
assistant  editor  of  the  Alarm  in  January,  1885.  I  was  associated  with 
its  able  founder  from  that  time  until  the  appearance  of  the  last 
number  under  his  supervision,  April  24,  1886. 

Next  to  the  last  speech  I  heard  from  Mr.  Parsons  while  free 
was  in  March,  1886,  at  106  East  Randolph  street,  on  his  return  from 
his  trip  through  the  eastern  coal  mines.  It  was  a  clear,  orderly, 
truthful  array  of  facts,  with  conclusions  most  ably  drawn  and  elo¬ 
quently  presented. 

I  saw  him  next  on  the  4th  of  May  in  the  afternoon,  at  the 
Alarm  office. 

He  had  that  morning  returned  from  Cincinnati,  and  was  in¬ 
quiring  about  the  meetings  that  were  being  arranged  in  the  city. 
I  went  home  with  his  wife  and  himself  and  took  supper,  and  from 
there  we,  with  their  children,  went  to  the  Group  meeting  held  in  the 
Alarm  office.  He  was  pleasant  and  talkative,  giving  us  incidents  of 
his  journey,  and  speaking  hopefully  of  the  future  of  our  cause.  The 
story  of  that  evening  has  often  been  told ;  how  he,  with  Fielden 


214 


PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES. 


and  others,  were  sent  for  to  come  and  speak  at  the  Haymarket ;  how 
we  all  followed;  how  they  addressed  the  large  meeting  as  they  had 
often  done  before ;  how  Bonfield’s  men  were  hurried  on  to  break  up 
a  meeting  already  dispersing;  how  the  fatal  bomb  was  thrown  by 
some  unknown  hand ;  how  the  crowd  was  scattered  and  shot  into. 

But  the  little  details  and  incidents  of  that  eventful  night  are 
not  so  well  known ;  some  never  will  be.  There  were  citizens  lying 
dead  with  police  bullets  in  their  breasts,  whose  fate  is  still  a  mystery. 
There  were  men  in  the  stations  who  were  never  heard  of  again,  and 
much  was  endured  that  will  probably  never  come  to  light.  When 
the  noise  of  the  explosion  broke  on  the  air  Mr.  Parsons  was  stand¬ 
ing  near  the  window  of  Zepf’s  saloon  looking  out ;  Mrs.  Parsons  and 
I  sat  not  far  away.  Fischer,  with  other  comrades,  was  in  the  room. 
Parsons  came  up  to  us  and  said :  “Don’t  be  frightened !  don’t  be 
frightened !” 

“What  is  it?”  I  asked,  as  a  perfect  hailstorm  of  bullets  rattled 
about  our  ears. 

“I  do  not  know ;  may  be  the  Illinois  regiments  have  brought  up 
their  Gatling  gun.” 

Bullets  whistled  past  us  through  the  open  door.  Fugitives  came 
running  in,  and  every  one  started  for  a  room  in  the  back  end  of  the 
building.  Some  one.  shut  the  door  and  for  some  time  a  number  of 
us  were  shut  up  in  total  darkness,  ignorant  of  what  had  happened 
or  what  our  danger  was.  Presently  the  door  was  opened,  and  one 
after  another  we  came  out  and  stepped  into  the  street.  Every¬ 
thing  seemed  quiet ;  from  where  we  stood  no  excitement  could  be 
noticed,  no  policemen  were  in  sight.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Parsons,  and 
myself  started  up  the  Desplaines  street  viaduct  to  go  home,  and 
shortly  afterward  Thomas  Brown  joined  us.  I  said  to  Mr.  Parsons: 
“I  do  not  know  what  has  happened,  or  whether  there  is  any  further 
danger,  but  we  may  be  sure  some  kind  of  a  conflict  has  occurred. 
Everybody  knows  you  and  they  all  know  your  influence.  If  any  of 
our  boys  are  in  danger  you  are.  Whatever  has  happened,  leave  the 
city  for  a  few  days  at  least.  We  can’t  spare  you  yet,  and  in  the  ex¬ 
cited  condition  the  people  must  be  in  we  do  not  know  what  might 
happen  to  you.” 


PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES. 


215 


“I  do  not  think  I  ought  to  go — do  you?” 

“Yes — go;  there  is  no  harm  in  going  away  for  a  few  days  until 
we  see  what  is  the  matter  and  have  time  to  collect  our  thoughts  and 
determine  what  is  best  to  do ;  you  do  not  want  to  be  taken  unawares ; 
be  at  a  safe  distance,  and  when  you  see  you  are  needed  come,  as  I 
know  you  always  will.” 

Many  other  arguments  I  used  to  induce  the  brave,  home-loving 
man  to  depart  before  he  at  last  consented.  He  had  not  money  enough 
with  him  to  go  far  and  Mr.  Brown  quickly  tendered  him  $5.  It  was 
decided  best  for  his  wife  not  to  accompany  him,  so  there  on  the 
viaduct  we  separated,  Brown  going  one  way,  Mrs.  Parsons  another, 
and  we  two  toward  the  Northwestern  depot. 

Just  before  he  turned  away  he  said:  “Kiss  me,  Lucy.  We  do 
not  know  when  we  will  meet  again,”  and  there  seemed  a  sad,  almost 
prophetic,  tone  in  his  voice ;  so,  hurriedly  and  with  what  unexpressed 
feelings  none  can  ever  know,  their  parting,  the  end  of  a  long  period 
of  uninterrupted  and  happy  companionship,  took  place.  We  walked 
to  the  depot,  and  I  there  purchased  a  ticket  for  Turner  Junction,  the 
nearest  point  to  our  home  that  he  could  reach  that  night.  Mr. 
Parsons  seemed  very  quiet,  almost  passive  and  indifferent,  as  though 
for  the  time  being  he  was  in  other  hands  than  his  own.  He  said 
little,  but  asked  me  twice  if  I  really  thought  it  was  best  for  him  to 
go  away.  At  the  last  he  said :  “You  will  be  a  good  friend  to  my 
wife,  will  you  not?  I  hope  they  will  not  suffer  while  I  am  gone — 
but  I  may  be  back  soon.”  He  made  me  take  part  of  the  money  he 
had  with  him  to  his  wife,  and  warmly  shook  my  hand,  standing  on 
the  platform  as  the  train  began  to  move. 

Another  hand  will  write  of  his  experiences  for  the  next  few 
days;  I  will  take  up  his  story  where  he  arrives  in  Waukesha,  Wis¬ 
consin. 

He  arrived  at  the  home  of  Daniel  Hoan  on  the  10th  of  May.  Mr. 
Hoan  was  a  reader  of  the  Alarm,  had  written  to  its  editor,  but  had 
never  met  him.  He  is  an  earnest,  whole-souled  man,  with  some 
peculiar  views  of  his  own,  which  he  very  ably  explains  and  defends ; 
but  without  understanding  precisely  “what  the  Anarchists  of  Chicago 
wanted,  anyhow,”  his  heart  went  out  to  them,  and  he  was  certain 


2l6 


PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES. 


they  had  a  great  part  to  play  in  the  redemption  of  the  world.  He 
says  of  Mr.  Parsons’  arrival : 

“When  I  heard  his  knock  at  the  door  I  felt  that  some  one  out  of 
the  common  was  there.  I  went  and  opened  it  myself.  ‘The  dear 
little  man’  stood  there,  looking  at  me  with  a  smile,  half  sad,  half 
merry.  ‘Come  in,  and  God  bless  you,’  I  said.  ‘The  Lord  sent  you 
here — you’ve  come  to  the  right  place.’  I  knew  who  it  was,  and  I 
knew  it  was  all  right.  I  took  him  to  the  shop,  and  we  talked  it  over. 
I  told  him  he  would  be  as  safe  as  a  child  of  my  own,  and  that  the 
Lord  would  preserve  him  to  do  his  work  yet.  We  got  out  some  old 
clothes,  a  big  gray  coat,  and  a  wide-brimmed  hat.  Then  I  brought 
him  in  and  introduced  him  to  the  family  as  ‘Mr.  Jackson,’  and  said 
he  would  stay  and  work  for  me  awhile.” 

His  hair  and  beard  soon  grew  long,  and,  as  Mr.  Parsons  was  one 
of  the  neatest  of  dressers,  arrayed  thus  he  was  well  disguised.  Some 
of  the  ladies  of  the  village,  on  becoming  somewhat  acquainted,  and 
noting  his  intelligent  mind  and  interesting  conversation  (qualities 
that  it  was  difficult  to  disguise),  said,  ‘What  a  nice  man  Mr.  Jack- 
son  seems  to  be.  What  a  pity  he  cannot  dress  better !”  Another 
exclaimed :  “But  how  neatly  his  shoes  are  always  kept.  He  must 
have  dressed  well  at  some  time  in  his  life.  Suppose  we  club  to¬ 
gether  and  buy  him  a  nice  coat,  that  old  one  is  so  shabby  and  big  for 
him.” 

Little  thinking  how  more  than  useless  a  well-fitting  coat  would 
have  been  to  him,  they  actually  talked  up  the  project,  which,  but  for 
subsequent  events,  might  have  been  carried  out. 

“Mr.  Jackson”  assisted  in  Mr.  Hoan’s  pump  factory  and  did  the 
carpenter  work  in  the  alteration  of  his  dwelling  house.  The  turret, 
porch,  and  lattice-work  around  them  ornament  the  house  today,  and 
probably  will  remain  until  they  fall  away  from  decay,  as  a  memento 
of  the  martyr’s  taste  and  handiwork.  Whatever  work  Mr.  Parsons 
undertook  was  well  done,  though  he  had  previously  known  nothing 
of  the  technical  details.  He  brought  his  keen,  analytical  mind  to 
bear  upon  the  processes  of  the  work  in  hand  and  quickly  solved  them, 
were  it  a  social  problem  or  the  forming  of  a  complete  steamer 
from  a  block  of  wood. 


PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES. 


217 


They  said  he  took  great  interest  in  his  work.  In  trying  different 
effects  in  the  ornamental  carpenter  work  he  would  climb  down,  step 
into  the  road  in  front  of  the  house,  and,  with  arms  akimbo,  exclaim, 
if  satisfied :  “Well,  that’s  immense !” 

Sometimes,  when  at  work  near  the  eaves,  he  would  talk  to  the 
girls  and  children  sitting  on  the  porch  beneath,  telling  stories  of  his 
boyhood  days,  scenes  of  slavery  days,  and  sometimes  giving  vivid  pic¬ 
tures  of  the  lives  of  poverty  and  toil  the  people  in  the  great  cities 
endured,  inculcating  even  there  quiet  lessons  in  the  new  economic 
philosophy.  The  girl  who  lived  with  them  at  the  time  said  she  al¬ 
ways  remembered  one  remark  of  “Mr.  Jackson’s”;  it  was  new  to  her 
then,  and  impressed  her  deeply.  It  was  that  “men  and  women  were 
always  as  good  as  their  conditions  allowed  them  to  be.” 

Beautiful  Waukesha,  with  its  green  hills  and  clear  fountains,  must 
forever  be  endeared  to  those  who  cherish  the  memory  of  our 
martyrs,  for  here  the  last  free  days  of  one,  whose  story  we  are  tell¬ 
ing,  were  passed.  One  will  always  look  on  the  winding  paths,  o’er- 
shadowed  with  trees,  the  rolling,  velvety  hills,  the  cozy  nooks,  the 
sheltered,  sparkling  springs  with  deepened  interest,  knowing  that 
here  and  there  his  free  feet  pressed  the  earth  and  all  around  his  eyes 
rested  for  the  last  time  on  the  free,  fair  world.  His  favorite  resort 
was  a  seat  on  Spence’s  hill,  just  above  the  Acme  spring.  From  this 
point  the  whole  village,  nestled  in  softest  foliage,  with  the  low,  misty 
hills  beyond,  is  spread  like  a  beautiful  panorama  before  the  eye. 
Above,  the  leafy  branches  wave  in  a  slow,  steady  murmur,  and  the 
fresh,  invigorating  air  sweeps  through,  breathing  of  health  and 
strength  and  freedom  as  though  slavery  had  no  existence  in  the 
universe.  Farther  up  the  slope  the  trees  grow  thickly,  like  the  depths 
of  a  forest,  and  beneath  them  spring  up  various  species  of  ferns, 
grasses,  and  wild  flowers. 

Mr.  Parsons  every  morning  would  hasten  with  that  quick,  springy 
tread  of  his,  to  the  Acme  spring,  quaff  its  crystal  waters,  and  on  up 
through  the  trees  for  an  hour’s  ramble.  At  breakfast  he  would  come 
in,  bright  and  animated,  with  his  hands  full  of  the  ferns  and  flowers 
he  loved  so  well.  Toward  evening  he  would  go  and  recline  on  the 
rustic  seat  above  mentioned,  and,  gazing  dreamily  on  the  lovely  view 


2 18  PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES. 

before  him,  become  lost  in  deep  reveries.  Sad  and  anxious  must 
have  been  those  thoughts,  brightened,  perhaps,  by  the  lofty  conscious¬ 
ness  that  always  belongs  with  a  strong,  noble  character.  Such  a  one 
can  never,  under  any  circumstances,  be  absolutely  miserable  and  de¬ 
spondent.  Those  reflections  would  be  dearly  prized ;  but  he  has  left 
us  in  letters  and  speeches  much  that  had  part  in  them,  no  doubt.  He 
made  friends  with  all  whom  he  met,  as  he  ever  did,  even  in  the 
humble  guise  he  had  taken.  The  children,  the  young  boys  in  the 
shop,  the  neighbors,  the  brothers  and  sisters  of  Mr.  Needham’s  little 
church,  all  learned  to  love  “Mr.  Jackson”  and  be  eager  to  converse 
with  him.  Upon  one  or  two  occasions  he  entertained  the  congrega¬ 
tion  of  the  little  church  with  a  talk  or  lecture,  which  pleased  them 
very  much.  He  had  a  pleasant  way  of  advancing  his  own  ideas  with¬ 
out  antagonizing  those  who  held  different  opinions ;  and  this  gentle 
way  of  his  sometimes  led  people  to  believe  he  “fell  in”  with  them  or 
was  not  well  grounded  in  his  own  views,  but  when  occasion  required, 
and  the  full  force  of  the  man’s  intellect  and  character  came  out,  they 
found  how  much  they  were  mistaken. 

One  day,  while  at  the  desk  writing,  Annie,  the  girl  before  men¬ 
tioned,  came  in  quite  suddenly  and  said  : 

“Say — they  say  you  are  Mr.  Parsons — don’t  you  think — ” 

Mr.  Parsons  never  moved,  but  he  said  afterward  he  could  feel 
his  face  grow  cold  and  white. 

“Is  that  so?  Who  says  so?” 

“Oh,  a  Mr. - * — ,  and  Mr. - ,  and  they  say  Mr. - told 

them.” 

In  a  few  minutes  Mr.  Hoan  came  in.  Parsons  took  him  into  the 
next  room  and  said  quickly  :  “I’ll  have  to  get  out  of  this — right  away 
too.  They  have  it  about  town  that  I  am  Parsons.  I  am  no  longer 
safe  here.” 

Hoan  would  sometimes  use  some  religious  swear-words  when 
excited,  and  began  to  make  vehement  inquiries  as  to  what  had  been 
said.  When  all  was  told  that  was  known,  he  said : 

“Just  you  keep  quiet.  I  believe  I  can  fix  this  all  right  yet.  They 
know  nothing  yet — they  are  only  surmising.” 

And  so  Mr.  Parsons  remained  “quiet,”  while  his  honor  and 


PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES. 


219 


safety  were  in  jeopardy,  and  Mr.  Hoan  went  out,  traced  up  the 
story,  called  them  “a  pack  of  fools,”  and  asked  if  Jackson  looked 
anything  like  the  picture  of  Parsons,  and  much  more  to  that  effect. 
The  surmise  was  quieted,  and  if  anyone  in  Waukesha  suspected 
Jackson’s  identity,  nothing  further  was  said. 

Some  correspondence,  after  the  first  two  weeks’  absence,  was 
accomplished  between  himself  and  his  wife  and  the  principal  attor¬ 
ney,  Capt.  Black.  Up  to  this  time,  I  believe,  but  two  persons  in  the 
world  knew  where  Albert  R.  Parsons  was,  and  they  were  Mr.  Hoan 
and  Mr.  Holmes,  of  Geneva,  Illinois.  In  his  first  letter  he  asked  if 
they  thought  best  he  should  return,  and  expressed  his  willingness  to 
do  so.  A  consultation  of  the  attorneys  and  most  interested  comrades 
was  called,  in  which  opinions  were  about  equally  divided.  Black, 
having  faith  in  abstract  justice,  was  for  his  return;  Foster,  from  a 
professional  standpoint,  was  against  it.  His  wife  could  only  say  that 
he  should  do  what  he  thought  was  wise  and  right.  The  result  of  the 
consultation  was  conveyed  to  him. 

On  the  19th  of  June,  1886,  Mr.  Parsons  wrote  a  letter  saying  he 
would  return ;  this  letter  Mr.  Hoan  himself  conveyed  to  the  city, 
and  in  a  very  adroit  manner  managed  to  make  himself  known  to  the 
right  parties,  consult  with  them,  obtain  their  instructions,  and  depart 
for  home  without  attracting  the  notice  of  a  single  one  of  the  many 
detectives  who1  were  on  the  alert — “looking  for  Parsons.” 

Sunday  morning  it  was  decided  that  Mr.  Parsons  should  start 
for  Chicago  that  night.  Through  the  day  he  was  rather  quiet,  but 
pleasant  and  cheerful ;  and  in  the  afternoon  he  proposed  they  should 
all  make  a  last  visit  to  Spence’s  hill.  He  sat  on  his  favorite  seat  a 
long  time  in  serious  meditation,  but  finally  began  to  talk  cheerily 
with  the  others,  and  in  a  boyish  mood  lay  at  full  length  on  the  ground 
and  rolled  down  the  long  hill.  He  climbed  up,  flushed  and  laughing, 
and  lapsed  no  more  into  quiet  reverie.  The  worst  had  been  lived 
through.  Afterward  he  said  that  when  he  wrote  his  name  to  the  let¬ 
ter  saying  he  would  return,  he  felt  that  he  was  signing  his  death 
warrant.  He  had  no  hope  in  Courts ;  he  was  almost  certain  what  his 
fate  would  be ;  he  knew  that  he  could  be  safe  and  free  for  years  if  he 
chose  it.  But  his  comrades  were  in  peril ;  the  cause  he  loved  needed 


220 


PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES. 


him;  the  whole  world  waited  expectantly  to  hear  more  of  this  new 
philosopher,  hitherto  but  a  word  of  terror ;  the  events  to  come,  which 
were  to  change  the  course  of  the  century,  needed  but  his  presence  to 
complete  their  majestic  significance;  and  with  his  character  it  was 
impossible  to  remain  away  in  safety  and  hiding.  That  evening,  at  a 
late  hour,  the  team  hitched  to  a  light  wagon  stood  ready  to  convey 
Mr.  Parsons  to  Milwaukee.  A  train  left  that  city  at  3  o’clock  in  the 
morning,  which  he  intended  to  take.  A  young  son  of  Mr.  Hoan’s 
drove ;  and  the  long  ride  of  twenty  miles  through  the  still  summer 
night  along  the  smooth  roads  was  easily  accomplished ;  they  arrived 
at  Milwaukee  with  two  hours  to  spare.  As  they  were  entering  the 
city,  a  policeman  laid  his  hand  on  the  horse’s  bridle,  and  wanted  to 
know  what  they  were  doing  at  that  time  of  night.  The  boy  an¬ 
swered  : 

“ I  am  going  to  take  this  gentleman  to  the  train.” 

The  officer  peered  curiously  into  the  wagon. 

“You  seem  to  have  come  a  good  distance,”  and  putting  his  hand 
on  the  horse’s  neck  said : 

“She’s  pretty  warm !” 

Mr.  Parsons,  to  divert  his  attention,  said  laughingly:  “It  is  not 
a  ‘she,’  it  is  a  ‘he.’  ” 

The  man  laughed,  and  turned  away ;  he  had  looked  quite  sharply 
at  a  basket  in  the  wagon  at  their  feet,  which  contained  Mr.  Parsons’ 
own  clothes,  as  though  he  would  like  to  explore  its  contents,  but 
walked  away,  saying  he  “was  looking  for  a  man  that  had  stolen 
something  in  the  city.” 

The  boy,  wholly  ignorant  of  whom  he  was  carrying,  said :  “What 
was  the  officer  looking  for,  I  wonder.  Did  he  think  we  had  bombs 
in  our  basket?” 

Another  incident  occurred  when  near  home,  which  showed  how 
near  and  yet  how  far  the  great  Chicago  police  were  to  gaining  their 
greatest  desire.  As  the  train  neared  Kinzie  street,  slowing  up  as 
usual  at  that  point,  Mr.  Parsons  thought  best  to  alight  there,  rather 
than  to  go  on  to  the  depot.  Morning  was  mistily  dawning,  and  the 
great  city  lay  in  shrouded  silence.  He  leaped  from  the  train,  which 
was  gliding  along  at  a  swifter  rate  than  he  had  calculated  upon,  and 


PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES. 


221 


fell,  rolling  over  once  or  twice  before  he  caught  himself.  A  police¬ 
man  who  stood  near  came  and  assisted  him  to  his  feet. 

“Are  yez  hurt,  now  ?”  queried  the  servant  of  the  law,  feeling  over 
him  for  broken  bones. 

“No,  I  thank  ye,”  he  answered  awkwardly,  as  became  the  poor  old 
farmer  he  looked  to  be,  “only  shaken  up  a  bit.  I’ll  be  all  right  in  a 
minit  or  two.” 

The  policeman  looked  at  the  queer  little  man,  with  his  half-grown 
iron-gray  beard  and  long  hair,  his  poorly  fitting  old  clothes,  big 
slouch-hat,  and  the  market  basket  on  his  arm,  and  said :  “What  d’ye 
do  thet  fer,  anyhow?  Don’t  jump  off  any  more  trains  when  they’re 
going  loike  that  now.  And  d’ye  know  where  yez  be  going?” 

“Oh,  yes;  I’ve  been  there  before,  and  only  jumped  off  because 
’twas  nearer.  I’ll  bid  you  good  day,  sir.” 

And  the  policeman  allowed  the  little  old  farmer  to  walk  away, 
never  dreaming  that  he  had  put  his  hands  on  the  much-wanted  Par¬ 
sons.  Had  he  lost  his  presence  of  mind  for  a  moment  he  might  have 
been  discovered.  From  this  adventure  he  went  on  his  way  undis¬ 
turbed  until  he  reached  the  house  of  Mrs.  Ames  on  Morgan  street. 
The  lady  knew  him  at  once,  quickly  drew  him  in,  shut  the  door,  and 
in  the  fullness  of  her  heart  and  her  joy  that  he  was  thus  far  safe  from 
the  hands  of  the  detectives,  she  embraced,  kissed,  and  cried  over  him, 
so  she  says,  and  as  any  good  sister  comrade  would  have  done. 

A  brief  and  indirect  note  was  sent  to  his  wife.  Though  burning 
with  impatience  and  anxiety,  she  sauntered  carelessly  along  the 
streets  until  near  the  house,  knowing  that  detectives  were  likely 
to  be  dogging  every  step ;  they  missed  it  for  once,  as  in  a  few  min¬ 
utes  she  was  once  more  for  a  brief  time  united  with  her  husband. 

Swiftly  and  carefully  the  comrades  worked  that  afternoon  to  com¬ 
plete  the  arrangements  for  his  entrance  into  Court.  At  2  o’clock 
Capt.  Black  was  pacing  impatiently  up  and  down  the  front  steps  of 
the  court-house ;  in  a  few  minutes  a  hack  drove  swiftly  up.  A  lady 
and  two  men  alighted.  Capt.  Black  shook  hands  silently  but  in¬ 
tensely  with  one  of  them,  gave  him  his  arm,  and  proceeded  up  the 
stairway.  As  they  passed  the  first  landing  James  Bonfield  turned, 
looked  after  him,  and  said :  “Who  was  that  fellow  with  Black  ?” 


222 


PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES. 


A  reporter  said : 

“I  believe  it  is  Parsons.” 

“Not  much,”  a  detective  near  by  exclaimed  :  “Say,  we’re  looking 
for  Parsons,  and  don’t  you  forget  it.” 

But  Bonfield  said :  “I’ll  be  d - d,  if  it  ain’t,”  and  started  after 

them. 

Meanwhile  Capt.  Black  and  his  strange  companion,  now  neatly 
dressed,  shaved,  and  barbered,  were  advancing  slowly  toward  the 
Court.  All  eyes  were  fixed  upon  them  in  strained  expectancy.  Sud¬ 
denly  Grinnell,  whose  mean  soul  is  incapable  of  appreciating  a  sub¬ 
lime  act,  sprang  to  his  feet  and  cried  out:  “I  see  Albert  Parsons  in 
the  room  and  demand  his  instant  arrest.” 

But  no  officer  made  the  arrest.  Capt.  Black  in  a  dignified  manner 
said :  “This  man  is  under  my  care  and  such  a  demand  is  an  insult  to 
me.” 

They  stood  before  the  Judge,  whose  ideas  of  justice  were  yet 
untried. 

“I  present  myself  for  trial  with  my  comrades,  your  Honor.” 

“You  will  take  a  seat  with  the  prisoners,  Mr.  Parsons,”  and  in  a 
few  minutes  more  the  cry  had  gone  down,  had  flown  over  the  city,  up 
into  the  press  rooms,  and  away  through  the  country,  flashing  over  a 
thousand  wires,  that  “Parsons  had  given  himself  up  in  Court !” 

The  sharp  detectives — where  were  they? 

He  took  his  seat  with  his  noble  comrades,  never  to  depart  a  free 
man.  Voluntarily  he  gave  up  liberty  for  a  cause  he  loved  better  than 
his  life.  That  night  the  prison  doors  closed  upon  him  never  to  open 
for  him  alive ;  the  stone  walls  shut  out  the  fair,  free  earth  forever — 
and  man  repaid  an  act  of  unprecedented  devotion  with — death. 

Lizzie  M.  Holmes. 


CHAPTER  II. 


MR.  PARSONS  AT  GENEVA. 

He  is  at  the  Residence  of  Mr.  Holmes  from  Early  Morning,  on 
May  5,  1886,  Until  the  Afternoon  of  the  Next  Day — The 
Story  of  those  Two  Days  of  Intense  Excitement  and  Ag¬ 
onizing  Uncertainty  Graphically  Told  by  Holmes — Be¬ 
lieving  that  a  General  Massacre  of  All  Socialists  Had 
Taken  Place,  Mr.  Parsons  Would  Return  to  Chicago  and 
Die  With  His  Comrades — The  Startling  Rumors  Which 
Gained  Currency  and  Credence — His  Unwavering  Faith  in 
the  People  and  Confidence  in  the  Ultimate  Triumph  of 
the  Right. 

Mrs.  Lucy  E.  Parsons — Dear  Comrade : 

You  ask  me  to  write  an  account  of  the  few  memorable  days  dur¬ 
ing  which  I  had  the  proud  honor  of  offering  the  shelter  of  my  home 
in  Geneva,  Illinois,  to  our  dear  comrade,  your  beloved  husband.  I 
am  only  too  glad  to  enter  upon  this  labor  of  love,  and  to  pay  my 
tribute  of  esteem  to  the  worthy  wife  of  such  a  grand  man  by  narrat¬ 
ing  in  detail  the  incidents  of  that  exciting  period. 

The  5th  of  May,  1886!  Deep  into  my  brain  is  burned  the  re¬ 
membrance  of  that  day.  As  I  write  every  detail  of  every  incident 
stands  out  prominently  before  me,  and  I  seem  to  feel  again  the  excite¬ 
ment,  uncertainty,  and  apprehension  of  the  time. 

On  the  morning  of  the  4th  of  May  we  had  received  your  urgent 
telegram  requesting  my  wife’s  immediate  presence  in  Chicago.  We 
rightly  conjectured  that  she  was  needed  in  the  city  to  assist  in  organ¬ 
izing  the  working  girls,  particularly  the  cloak-makers.  The  excite¬ 
ment  in  Chicago,  which  had  been  increasing  for  several  days,  was 
then  intense,  and  it  was  believed  that  advantage  could  be  taken  of  the 
clubbing  and  shooting  of  workingmen  at  McCormick’s  reaper  factory 


223 


224 


PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES. 


the  day  before  to  effect  a  powerful  organization  of  a  large  majority 
of  the  working  people  in  the  city  for  the  purpose  of  securing  import¬ 
ant  concessions  from  the  employers  of  labor. 

I  arose  late  on  the  morning  of  the  5th,  and,  as  was  my  usual  cus¬ 
tom,  strolled  leisurely  down  to  the  village  to  procure  the  morning 
paper,  little  dreaming  of  the  startling  sensation  it  would  contain.  Half 
an  hour  later  I  was  sitting  alone  in  my  room,  unconscious  of  aught 
save  the  exciting  news  I  was  devouring.  My  back  was  turned  to 
the  door,  and  I  did  not  hear  it  open. 

“Good  morning!  How  do  you  do?”  said  a  well-known  voice  in 
my  ear. 

Springing  to  my  feet  I  caught  the  hand  extended  to  me.  For 
several  moments  we  stood  with  our  feet,  our  knees,  almost  our 
breasts,  touching,  and  hands  clasped  in  that  strong  embrace.  For  a 
long  time  we  stood  thus,  our  eyes  riveted  each  upon  the  other’s  face. 
His  look  searched  the  recesses  of  my  inmost  soul ;  my  gaze  met  his 
unflinchingly.  At  last  I  broke  the  silence. 

“You  are  from  Chicago?”  I  said. 

He  replied  :  “I  am.” 

And  then,  our  hands  still  tightly  interlocked,  he  gave  me  a  brief 
description  of  the  fearful  scenes  and  incidents  of  the  previous  night. 
Then  he  told  me  of  his  wonderful  departure;  how,  accompanied  by 
my  wife,  he  walked  to  the  depot  of  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  rail¬ 
way,  he  taking  the  midnight  train  for  Geneva ;  how  he  had  left  the 
train  at  Turner  Junction  and  stayed  at  a  hotel  till  morning,  reaching 
Geneva  about  9:30  o’clock  on  Wednesday  morning. 

We  spent  most  of  the  forenoon  in  discussing  the  situation,  and 
he  gave  me  an  account  of  the  principal  events  which  had  transpired 
since  the  eight-hour  agitation  had  reached  its  highest  limit.  Shortly 
after  noon  I  went  out  to  learn  what  I  could  of  the  situation  in  Chi¬ 
cago.  All  sorts  of  wild  rumors  were  floating  about.  Some  said  the 
city  had  been  set  on  fire  and  was  already  half  consumed ;  others  that 
the  Anarchists  had  destroyed  the  City  Hall,  and  in  consequence  a 
general  massacre  of  all  Socialists  and  their  known  sympathizers  was 
in  progress.  I  was  met  everywhere  with  scowling  faces  and  looks  of 
suspicion.  Even  those  who  had  been  the  day  before  my  warmest 


PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES. 


225 


friends  shunned  me,  or  muttered  maledictions  against  the  Anarchists, 
for  it  was  generally  known  that  I  was  a  radical. 

I  hastened  back  and  told  Comrade  Parsons  what  I  had  seen  and 
heard.  Meantime  he  had  not  been  idle;  but,  as  previously  agreed 
between  us,  he  had  written  a  scorching  editorial  for  the  next  number 
of  the  Alarm ,  denouncing  in  strong  language  the  unprovoked  and 
unlawful  attack  upon  the  Haymarket  meeting  by  Bonfield  and  his 
uniformed  ruffians.  Neither  of  us  at  that  time  dreamed  that  the  as¬ 
sistant  editor  of  the  Alarm  (Mrs.  Holmes),  as  well  as  the  editors  and 
compositors  of  the  Arbeiter-Z  eitung ,  had  already  been  arrested,  or 
that  the  Alarm  had  been  entirely  suppressed. 

When  I  told  him  of  the  rumors  in  circulation  in  the  village  he 
became,  for  the  first  time,  greatly  excited.  Never  doubting,  in  the 
first  moment,  the  authenticity  of  the  rumors,  his  first  impulse,  very 
naturally,  was  to  return  to  the  city  and  die  with  his  friends  and  his 
family.  He  did  not  doubt  but  that  every  Socialist  in  Chicago  would 
be  massacred,  yet  he  hesitated  not  in  making  his  choice — he  would 
die  with  them.  He  soon,  however,  became  calm  again,  and  wisely 
determined  to  wait  for  the  news  of  the  next  day.  It  was  mutually 
agreed  that  if  the  morrow’s  tidings  confirmed  the  current  rumors,  we 
would  both  immediately  return  to  the  city. 

About  4  o’clock  I  again  went  to  the  telegraph  office,  and  to  other 
places  where  I  could  hear  tidings  from  Chicago.  The  first  man  I  met 
gravely  informed  me  that  he  had  just  received  a  dispatch  that  a  ter¬ 
rible  conflict  had  taken  place  between  the  police  and  the  workingmen  ; 
that  over  a  score  of  dynamite  bombs  had  been  thrown,  destroying 
much  property  and  many  lives.  In  the  excitement  of  the  moment  I 
fully  believed  the  report  to  be  true,  but  by  a  great  effort  I  succeeded 
in  calming  myself  before  reaching  home,  and  told  Comrade  Parsons 
that  there  was  no  reliable  news,  carefully  suppressing  any  mention 
of  my  informant’s  story.  This  I  did  because  it  seemed  more  reason¬ 
able  to  wait  for  reliable  information,  which  would  surely  come  by  the 
newspapers  and  mails  early  the  next  morning.  If  the  very  worst 
should  prove  to  be  true,  nothing  would  be  lost  by  a  few  hours’  delay, 
while  the  time  spent  in  waiting  could  be  profitably  made  use  of  in 
deciding  upon  a  definite  plan  of  action. 


226 


PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES. 


Many  half-formed  plans  were  made  that  night,  to  be  completed 
and  carried  out  on  the  following  days.  Up  to  this  time  Comrade 
Parsons  had  not,  for  a  single  moment,  thought  of  flight.  All  our 
talk  was  of  our  probable  return  to  Chicago,  and  the  result  of  the 
breaking  up  of  the  Haymarket  meeting.  I  confess  I  was  ever  disposed 
to  take  a  more  gloomy  view  of  the  future  than  your  husband.  His 
belief  in  the  righteousness  of  our  cause  impelled  him  to  the  opinion 
that  in  the  struggle  then  probably  going  on  the  people  would  be  found 
on  the  side  of  truth  and  right,  and  that  we  should  eventually 
triumph.  For  once  my  pessimistic  disposition  saved  me  from  terrible 
disappointment. 

I  had  a  better  opportunity  that  night  to  know  our  comrade  than 
ever  before.  Like  the  true  Revolutionist  he  was,  he  longed  for  the 
final  conflict,  and  was  ready  to  face  any  danger,  to  do  any  deed  of 
daring,  in  order  to  strengthen  the  side  of  the  right.  He  fully  expected 
soon  to  fight  and  die  for  the  cause  he  loved  so  dearly.  He  chafed 
and  grew  impatient  at  what  seemed  to  him  unnecessary  delay.  I  fully 
believe,  had  I  not  used  arguments  and  entreaties  to  dissuade  him,  that 
he  would  have  hastened  to  Chicago'  that  night.  He  already  thought 
himself  alone  in  the  world.  He  never  doubted  for  a  moment  that,  if 
the  occasion  required  it,  his  heroic  wife  would  sacrifice  her  life  in  the 
struggle  for  economic  liberty.  He  wanted  to  be  on  the  field  of  action, 
and  in  the  thickest  of  the  fray. 

As  early  as  possible  the  next  morning  I  procured  copies  of  the  city 
papers.  There  we  learned  the  actual  state  of  affairs ;  that  Fielden, 

Spies,  Fischer,  Mrs.  Holmes,  and  the  entire  working  force  of  the 

* 

Arbeiter-Z eitung  had  been  arrested,  and  that  he  (Parsons)  was  a 
hunted  outlaw,  against  whom  all  the  forces  of  Government  and 
society  were  to  be  invoked.  All  our  plans  were,  therefore,  made  for 
his  immediate  security.  It  was  absolutely  necessary  that  a  safer  re¬ 
treat  should  be  found,  as  it  was  only  a  matter  of  a  short  time — pos¬ 
sibly  of  a  few  hours — when  my  house  would  be  searched.  He  had 
already  been  seen,  though  not  recognized,  by  one  of  the  neighbors. 
Early  in  the  morning,  while  working  in  my  little  garden  patch,  he  had 
surprised  me  by  boldly  walking  out  of  the  house,  and  insisted  upon 
helping  me  in  my  work.  While  thus  engaged  the  occupant  of  the 


PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES. 


227 


next  house  came  to  his  back  door  and  accosted  me,  making  some  re¬ 
mark  about  the  weather. 

The  evening  papers  gave  us  the  information  that  detectives  were 
already  scouring  the  country  in  every  direction  in  their  search  for 
Parsons.  To  delay  longer  was  dangerous.  Knowing  that  he  had 
many  friends  in  Kansas,  I  suggested  his  going  there,  disguised  in  the 
best  manner  possible.  He  had  already  shaved  off  his  mustache,  which 
altered  his  appearance  amazingly.  At  length  he  declared  his  inten¬ 
tion  of  going  to  Waukesha,  and  at  once.  He  took  off  his  collar  and 
neck-scarf,  tucked  his  pantaloons  in  his  boots,  and  in  other  ways 
changed  his  appearance.  At  first  he  determined,  if  stopped,  to  sell 
his  life  dearly,  but,  after  talking  the  matter  over,  decided  it  was  bet¬ 
ter  to  go  entirely  unarmed.  He  entered  my  house  trim,  neat — a  city 
gentleman  ;  he  left  it  looking  like  a  respectable  tramp. 

I  directed  him  how  to  proceed  to  Elgin,  by  way  of  St.  Charles. 
At  the  former  place  he  was  to  take  train  for  his  Wisconsin  retreat. 
With  hearts  heavy  with  apprehension  we  watched  him,  as  he  walked 
carelessly  along  the  dusty  road,  until  he  was  out  of  sight.  The  next 
time  I  saw  him  he  was  behind  prison  bars,  a  martyr  to  his  convic¬ 
tions  of  duty — a  victim  of  those  who  knew  neither  mercy  nor  justice. 
Yours  fraternally, 

William  Holmes. 


CHAPTER  III. 


A  CHAPTER  OF  HISTORY. 

An  Analytical  Student  of  Human  Motives  Tells  Some  Hith¬ 
erto  Unpublished  Facts — Mr.  Albert  R.  Parsons'  Firmness 
in  the  Hour  of  Awful  Temptation — He  Scorned  Life  as 
the  Price  of  Apostasy — The  Influences  Brought  to  Bear 
Upon  Him  to  Secure  His  Recantation — The  Appeal  of  the 
Citizens'  Association  Through  Melville  E.  Stone — “That 
is  Their  Answer,  They  Shall  Now  Have  Mine" — Dr.  Avel- 
ing  Listens  to  a  Story  With  a  Moral  and  an  Application. 

“If  the  State  of  Illinois  can  offord  to  hang  an  innocent  man,  I  can  afford 
to  hang.” — Albert  R.  Parsons. 

To  have  known  Parsons  was  to  love  him.  Some  reminiscences 
of  his  later  days  may  serve  to  bring  out  more  clearly  his  sterling  integ¬ 
rity  and  manly  character.  However  much  others  may  doubt  the  cor¬ 
rectness  of  his  views,  none  who  knew  him  ever  doubted  his  sincere 
earnestness  and  truthfulness.  Short  in  stature,  of  slight  physique  and 
nervous  temperament,  even  his  friends  did  not  realize  the  heroism 
which  lay  dormant  in  his  breast.  But  when  the  occasion  came  to  test 
his  courage,  to  prove  what  manner  of  man  he  was,  he  rose  to  the 
height  of  manhood  and  coolly  laughed  death  in  the  face  rather  than 
submit  to  a  cowardly  alternative. 

After  the  verdict  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Illinois,  sustaining  the 
sentence  of  death,  I  immediately  returned  from  the  East  to  Chicago. 
At  my  first  interview  with  the  prisoners  Parsons  asked  me  to  try  and 
ascertain  the  exact  status  of  affairs.  He  said  friends  were  daily 
bringing  in  words  of  hope ;  that  he  realized  the  situation,  and,  know¬ 
ing  human  nature,  believed  that,  under  similar  circumstances,  he 
might  do  the  same  thing.  “But  I  want  the  cold  facts;  can  you  get 
them  ?” 

I  went  to  a  friend  who  was  in  a  position  to'  know,  and  he  got  a 
gentleman  who  had  business  with  Grinnell  to  incidentally  ask  what 


228 


PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES. 


229 


the  chances  were.  Grinnell  answered  that  Fielden  and  Schwab 
would  probably  be  saved,  if  they  signed  what  would  be  required  of 
them.  He  further  said  that  he  had  talked  with  Judge  Gary  upon 
Parsons’  case,  but  that  nothing  could  be  done,  as  Parsons  was  re¬ 
garded  as  too  dangerous  a  man  to  let  slip  with  a  chance  of  final  re¬ 
lease.  In  fact,  the  impression  given  was  that  Parsons’  boldness  and 
eloquence  had  made  so  deep  an  impression  upon  the  Court  that  his 
death  was  decided  upon.  It  was  an  open  secret  that,  in  presenting 
the  case  to  the  jury,  Grinnell  meant  to  have  excepted  Parsons*  from 
the  extreme  penalty,  but  forgot  it.  Parsons’  eight-hour  speech  of 
defiance,  when  called  up  for  sentence,  banished  the  last  ray  of  hope. 

We  knew  that  no  matter  how  many  petitions  were  presented,  how 
many  friends  might  intercede,  the  decision,  as  in  all  such  cases,  finally 
depended  upon  the  signatures  of  the  Judge  and  Prosecuting  At¬ 
torney. 

When  I  conveyed  this  information  to  Parsons  his  eyes  glistened 
with  that  strange  light  so  well  known  to  his  associates,  and  he 
replied : 

“Ah  !  that  is  their  answer.  They  shall  now  have  mine.” 

Two  days  after  appeared  his  letter  to  Gov.  Oglesby,  contempt¬ 
uously  refusing  “mercy,”  and  demanding  liberty. 

As  the  day  of  execution  drew  near  the  case  of  Parsons  began  to 
assume  a  more  favorable  appearance.  His  voluntary  return,  to  court 
trial  with  his  associates,  and  his  fearless  bearing,  even  aroused  a  feel¬ 
ing  of  sympathy.  The  Defence  Committee  and  men  of  influence  be- 
seeched  him  to  sign  the  paper  which  some  of  the  others  had  con¬ 
sented  to  do.  In  my  last  interview  with  him  he  told  me  of  the  pres¬ 
sure  brought  to  bear  upon  him  to  recant.  He  was  a  loving  husband 
and  a  fond  father.  Probably  no  married  life  had  ever  been  less 
clouded  than  his,  for  perfect  felicity  always  reigned.  He  told  me  of 
promises  made,  and  which  seemed  to  be  based  upon  good  reasons.  I 


♦The  author  was  told  by  an  attorney  on  the  morning  of  the  rendering  of  the  ver¬ 
dict  that  Grinnell  had  just  expressed  the  regret  to  him  that  he  had  forgotten  to  men¬ 
tion  to  the  jury  that,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  Parsons  had  voluntarily  surrendered, 
he  ought  to  be  entitled  to  some  consideration.  This  proves  what  kind  of  a  “fair” 
trial  it  was. 


230 


PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES. 


assured  him  that  I  believed  that  he  alone  of  the  five  stood  a  fair 
chance  for  commutation.  He  replied  earnestly,  with  that  nervous 
gesture  of  the  index  finger  so  habitual  to  him : 

“But  Fischer  and  Engel  say  they  will  sign  if  I  do ;  they  leave  the 
decision  to  me.  Will  they  then  die?” 

I  replied  that  for  Lingg,  Fischer,  Engel,  and  Spies  there  was 
absolutely  no  hope ;  nothing  could  save  them.  He  drew  up  his  slight 
form,  and,  with  a  firmness  which  never  after  forsook  him,  replied : 

“Then  every  night  in  Joliet  upon  retiring,  and  every  morning  on 
arising,  I  should  be  haunted  with  the  thought  that  I  had  made  cow¬ 
ards  of  them  in  vain.  No ;  I  shall  die  with  them.” 

Two  nights  before  his  murder,  when  friends  had  been  denied  ac¬ 
cess,  and  even  his  beloved  wife  could  not  see  him,  one  of  the  bailiffs 
came  to  his  cell  and  said  that  Melville  E.  Stone,  editor  of  the  Daily 
News ,  desired  to  see  him  in  the  library.  Mr.  Parsons  refused,  say¬ 
ing  that  if  Mr.  Stone  wished  to  see  him  he  must  come  to  his  cell. 
Consequently,  the  great  man  of  the  press  was  ushered  in  behind  the 
bars  and  took  a  seat  before  the  cell  door.  Mr.  Parsons  still,  refused 
conversation  unless  his  visitor  should  come  inside  and  sit  with  him. 
Stone  complied.  Then  for  three  hours  Stone,  one  of  the  principal 
members  of  the  Citizens’  Association,  plead  with  Comrade  Parsons  to 
sign  the  retraction  of  his  principles  and  live.  With  kindness,  with 
sarcasm,  with  appeals  to  love  for  his  wife  and  children — with  all  the 
arts  he  knew  so  well  how  to  employ — he  beseeched  him  to  sign,  guar¬ 
anteeing  life  as  reward.  But  Albert  R.  Parsons  had  already  made  the 
sign  of  obliteration  over  life  and  refused  to  sacrifice  honor.  At  last, 
wearied  with  Stone’s  importunities,  he  arose,  and,  pointing  his  ac¬ 
cusing  finger  at  the  great  editor,  said  to  him  :  “You,  Mr.  Stone,  are 
responsible  for  my  fate.  No  one  has  done  more  than  you  to  compass 
the  iniquity  under  which  I  stand  here  awaiting  Friday’s  deliverance. 
1  courted  trial,  knowing  my  innocence ;  your  venomous  attacks  con¬ 
demned  us  in  advance.  I  shall  die  with  less  fear  and  less  regret  than 
you  will  feel  in  living,  for  my  blood  is  upon  your  head.  I  am 
through!  Go!”  And  the  interview  ended. 

When  Herr  Liebknecht  and  Hr.  Aveling  were  in  Chicago  they 
called  at  the  County  Jail  to  offer  their  distinguished  sympathy  to 


PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES.  23 i 

the  condemned  men.  When  Aveling  was  introduced  to  Parsons  he 
said :  “Mr.  Parsons,  I  am  sorry  to  see  you  in  there.”  Mr.  Parsons 
smiled  and  said :  “That  reminds  me  of  a  story.  William  Lloyd  Gar¬ 
rison  was  once  arrested  in  Boston,  for,  as  you  know,  he  was  a  social 
heretic  in  his  day.  While  in  jail  his  friend,  Wendell  Phillips,  called 
upon  him  and  said,  as  you  did,  T  am  sorry  to  see  you  in  there/  Mr. 
Garrison  instantly  retorted :  ‘Mr.  Phillips,  I  am  sorry  to  see  you  out 
there/”  Aveling  laughed  and  answered:  “Very  good  story,”  but 
he  moved  on  to  proffer  sympathy  to  another.  The  anecdote  seemed 
too  pointed  to  permit  of  discussion,  but  Parsons’  hearty  laugh  fol¬ 
lowed  him  as  he  passed  on. 

And  this  was  the  man  the  infamous  conspiracy  strangled  and 
cowardly  sprang  the  trap  to  choke  off  his  dying  words.  Calm,  un¬ 
moved,  and  fearless,  the  men  whom  so  many  had  tried  to  humiliate,  to 
dishonor,  to  apostatize,  rose  superior  to  their  accusers  and  stepped 
upon  the  scaffold  with  a  smile  of  pity  for  the  hirelings  who  were 
selected  to  perform  their  brutal  task.  And  among  all  names  now  so 
dear  to  working  men,  as  having  been  borne  by  men  who  died  in  their 
cause,  none  will  live  and  shine  with  greater  lustre  than  that  of  Albert 
R.  Parsons. 

Dyer  D.  Lum. 


\Lucy  Parsons  Is  Burned  to  Death  in  Chicago; 

Husband  Was  Hanged  After  Haymarket  Riot 

- - - 


dpectei  to  The  New  York  Times. 

CHICAGO,  March  7 — Lucy  Par- 

i  ZL8l  yfars  °ld-  noted  anarchist 
[  hose  husband  was  hanged  for  his 

PZt  in Chicaff0  Haymarrkh^ 

f'®4  n  ,1886,  was  burned  to  death 
ate  today  when  a  fire  broke  out 
nberfr^e  residence  at  3130 
North  Troy  Street. 


without  success  to  aid  the  aged 
woman.  They  were  married  set- 

-tfr  ag°’  but  the  wife  re- 

had  h  the  1ame  under  which  she 
bad  bee.n  Publicized  by  radical  ele- 

hirv1  «h0r  m0re  than  half  a  can- 
tury.  She  was  active  as  a  writer  on 

anarchism  until  a  little  more Than 

a  year  ago,  when  she  went  almost 
completely  blind. 

flamptmen  Wi°  extin§‘uished  the 
w  Carrie(!  Mrs*  Parsons  from 
he  kitchop.  Markstall  was  out¬ 
side  when  he  learned  of  the  fire 
and  ran  m  to  aid  his  wife.  He  was 

atUthplnRaibedr.0°m-  His  condition 
at  the  Belmont  Hospital  was  de¬ 
scribed  as  critical. 


tionary  New  England  stock.  Left 
an  orphan  at  the  age  of  5,  he  was 
reared  by  a  brother  on  the  Texas 
frontier,  in  1868  he  founded  a 
weekly  Republican  paper,  The 
Waco  Sentinel,  and  in  1873  he 
moved  to  Chicago  where  he  worked 
as  a  printer.  He  joined  the  printers 

St^?i0.u"dabra"dofthres 


Severely  injured  in  the  blaze  was  union,  helped  found  a  brand  ofthS 

Murkstall,  73,  who  tried  Knights  of  Labor  and  became  ~ 

au“ess  t0  a‘d  the  aged  in  the  Socialist  party.  A  leader' 

n  the  railroad  strikes  of  1877  Par¬ 
sons  became  secretary  of  the  Eight- 
Hour  League  in  1879.  In  1881  h* 

Uon  of  ?hf fZe  Hi*  Americau 
and  in  i  ssa Anarchist  International 
and  m  1884  he  founded  the  anarch¬ 
ist  paper,  The  Alarm. 

atP?hf  "S  WfS  °ne  01  the  leakers 
at  the  meeting  in  the  Chicago 

asT^rot^0"  May  4’  1886>  caII«d 
striked  af  ttf^‘  <* 


husband^Am6  ^  memory  of  her 
nusband,  American  labor  leader 

and  anarchit  “martyr,”  Lucy  E 

Jzr,  hiS  bio^raPhy.  "Life 
of  Albert  R  Parsons,  With  a  Brief 

America*”  ^Labor  Mo“t  in 
thT  S  After  he  was  hanged  in 
the  Haymarket  affair,  she  spent 

Zac/eartin  th°  Iabor  movement! 
preaching  his  ideals. 

pr£*arf?ns  was  born  in  Montgom- 
y,  Ala.,  m  1948,  of  prerevolu¬ 


a  ^  tne  Killing1  of 

nkers  at  the  McCormick  Har- 
vester  Works.  A  bomb  was  thrown 
killing  seven  policemen. 

SU^/enl^  ^  hidinS  ^SOns 
der  ^ithre  ’  WaS  indicted  f°r  mur- 
sll  ^  ^  °ther  Schists, 

?8S7  grantS’  and  011  Nov*  11, 

1«87,  was  hanged  along  with 

C^St  |pies’  AdolPh  Fischer  and 
George  Engel.  A  fifth  man,  Louis 

a  bomb-maker,  committed 
suidde  in  his  cell.  Convinced  of 

th!f-  lFUth  ^°f  Parsons’  contention 
that  he  and  the  three  others  were 
condemned  not  for  murder  butf” 
being  anarchists  and  reform  agita¬ 
tors,  Governor  John  P.  Altgeld 

toeTh^  ab°Ut  thG  Pardoningg  ^ 
the  three  surviving  men.  6 


8,  1942. 


11  ROADS  ASK  I.  C.  C. 
RAISE  STATE  FARES 


Appeal  for  Overruling  of  Ban 
by  New  York  Commission  on 
10%  Commutation  Advance 


THE  DAY  IN  WASH1NGT01 


Special  to  The  New  York  Times. 

WASHINGTON,  March  7 
President  Roosevelt  conferrec 
with  members  of  his  War  CounJ 
cil  and  with  Democratic  leaders 
from  Capitol  Hill. 

The  Senate  was  in  recess. 

The  House  considered  the  Ag-I 
riculture  Appropriation  bill  and 
adjourned  at  5:10  P.  M.  until 
noon  Monday. 


IN  INTRASTATE  TRAFFIC 


Long  Island,  New  York  Central, 
Erie,  Boston  <&  Maine  and 
New  Haven  Among  Lines 


Special  to  The  New  York  Times. 

WASHINGTON,  March  7— 
Eleven  railroads  which  were  forced 
by  the  New  York  State  Public 
Service  Commission  and  Transit 
Commission  to  rescind  a  10  per 
cent  increase  on  commutation 
fares  within  the  State  petitioned 
the  Interstate  Commerce  Commis¬ 
sion  today  for  an  order  permitting 
the  increase. 

The  roads  which  filed  the  brief 
with  the  commission  are  the  Balti¬ 
more  &  Ohio,  the  Boston  &  Maine, 
Delaware  &  Hudson,  Delaware, 
Lackawanna  &  Western,  Erie,  Le¬ 
high  Valley,  Long  Island,  New 
York  Central,  trustees  for  the  New 


York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford 
Pennsylvania  and  Staten  Islam 
Rapid  Transit. 

When  the  I.  C.  C.  a  few  week) 
ago  authorized  an  increase  of  1< 
per  cent  in  passenger  fares,  sucl 
an  increase  was  applied  on  com 
mutation  fares.  The  two  Nev 
York  commissions  immediately  or 


dered  a  return  to  former  fares  fo 
the  State. 


Today’s  brief  of  the  railroad 
asked  that  the  commission  find  tha 
the  rates  as  enforped  by  the  Nev 
York  commission  will  cause  an  un 
due  preference  to  persons  and  lo 
calities  in  intrastate  commerc 
and  will  cause  undue  prejudice  anc 
disadvantage  to  persons  and  local 
ities  in  interstate  and  foreign  com 
merce  and  will  cause  unreasonabh 
and  unjust  discrimination  agains 
interstate  and  foreign  commerce. 

The  I.  C.  C.  was  asked  to  issui 
an  order  prescribing  the  presen 
rates  increased  by  10  per  cent. 


SABS  FIFTH 


Sireet  floor  •  *  *  Mml  mm I  Pitoae  Orders  P 


Flaiilc^  Kill  Widow,  83, 
Of  Haymarket  Riot  Felon 

jl _ 

Library  on  Anarchism  Found 
in  Ruins  of  Chicago  Home 

CHICAGO,  March  7,  (£>).—  Mrs. 
Lucy  Parsons,  eighty-three  years  old, 
widow  of  one  of  four  men  hanged 
for  participation  in  the  Haymarket 
riot  of  1886,  was  burned  to  death 
tonight  when  fire  swept  her  small 
frame  flat.  George  Markstall,  sev¬ 
enty-two,  an  occupant  of  the  build¬ 
ing,  was  taken  to  a  hospital  in  crit¬ 
ical  condition  from  burns  suffered 
in  an  attempt  to  rescue  her. 

Her  husband,  Albert  R.  Parsons, 
and  three  other  men,  August  Spies, 
Adolf  Fischer  and  George  Engel, 
were  convicted  in  the  bombing  in 
which  seven  policemen  were  killed 
and  sixty  persons  injured  in  an 
open-air  anarchist  meeting  in  Hay¬ 
market  Square.  All  were  hanged  on 
Nov.  11,  1887.  Mrs.  Parsons  had  con¬ 
tended  her  husband  was  innocent. 

Policemen  and  firemen  said  they 
found  in  the  ruins  of  the  home  a 
library  of  2,500  to  3,000  volumes  de¬ 
voted  to  anarchism  and  socialism. 


Suez  and 
literranean 

;h  the  ex- 
3ive — either 
ia,  through 
g  stones  to 
>ination  of 
s  here  still 
ieral  forces 
be  strong, 
he  short  of 
Ich  in  man 
^avy  losses 
technical 
fe  directed 
campaign 
|ch  a  coun- 
>us  defense 
ssive  action 
bould  bring 
ill  short  of 
|y  doubtful 
tic  produc- 
lould  stand 
fenced  last 


riend  and  foe  alike  that 
brought  to  his  office  qualj 
courage  and  determinal 
respect.  What  is  particuj 
commendable  is  his  persis 
announced  during  his  cai 
occasions  since  then,  of 
control  of  Mayor  Hagu| 
guided  Democratic  govei 
for  many  years.  In  factj 
Republican  governor  whc 
slashing  attacks  at  this  fo| 
one  of  the  most  effective 
the  country,  and  who  ha;| 
tige  so  seriously. 

A  united  Republican  pai 
record  so  far  has  been  cl 
template  this  condition  of  | 
in  the  opposition  with 
assurance  as  the  time 
selection  of  a  successor  to 
tor  Smathers.  But  its  lead| 
will  not  place  their  faith 
ent  weakness  and  disunity 
party  in  New  Jersey.  Thi| 
entering  upon  its  final  st£ 
tant  responsibilities  to 
appropriations  bills,  revisj 


A.  U.  PARSONS  IN  HIS  CELL  MORNING  NOV.  11, 
1  al<en  from  Sketch  in  Daily  Payer  of  November  12,  1 


1887. 

887. 


PART  IX. 


CHAPTER  I. 

ECHOES  FROM  HIS  PRISON  CELL. 

Letters  Written  From  His  Dungeon — The  Verdict  the  Hand¬ 
writing  on  the  Wall — The  Position  of  the  Anarchists 
Defined — The  Shadow  of  the  Scaffold — Cheering  Letters 
and  Telegrams — Parsons’  Religious  Views — An  Account  of 
the  Final  Scenes  Copied  From  the  City  Press — “Brave 
While  Being  Shrouded.” 

With  this  part  is  contained  many  of  the  letters  and  correspondence 
with  friends,  which  gives  the  reader  a  clear  insight  into  the  thoughts 
and  aspirations  occupying  the  mind  of  a  man  sentenced  to  death, 
with  the  sun  so  far  past  the  meridian  of  the  nineteenth  century,  for 
opinion’s  sake,  in  what  had  hitherto  been  supposed  to  be  the  freest 
country  in  the  world — a  country  the  founders  of  which  freely  spilled 
their  blood  on  battle-fields  to  secure  to  their  descendants  the  right  to 
freely  think,  speak,  and  act.  And  this  in  America !  beneath  the  folds 
of  the  “stars  and  stripes” — that  flag  beneath  whose  protecting  folds, 
when  it  floated  on  foreign  seas,  by  foreign  shores,  every  slave  fleeing 
from  despotism  was  supposed  to  find  shelter !  It  was  for  this  reason — 
and  for  this  reason  alone — that  the  star-spangled  banner  was  first 
flung  to  the  breeze.  Yet,  with  this  atrocious  five-fold  murder,  Amer¬ 
ica  stands  to-day  in  the  vanguard  as  the  most  bloodthirsty  of  all  the 
despotisms  of  so-called  civilized  Governments.  She  attempted  to  do 
the  same  thing  that  despots  have  done  in  the  past  and  have  failed — 
she  erected  a  scaffold  and  attempted  to  murder  thought. 

That  in  this  attempt  she  out-stripped  even  Russia  is  shown  in  a 


233 


234 


ECHOES  FROM  PRISON  CELL. 


communication  to  a  Chicago  morning  paper  by  J.  V.  Farwell,  Presi¬ 
dent  of  the  Young  Men’s  Christian  Association  of  North  America, 
and  ten-millionaire,  which  reads  as  follows : 

*  *  *  I  am  proud  of  our  Government.  Its  beauty  and  power  over  all 
other  Governments  is  demonstrated  by  the  conviction  of  these  Anarchist 
fiends.  *  *  *  Why,  even  Russia  is  left  behind,  for  while  she  sends  them  to 
Siberian  mines,  or  to  the  execution  block,  it  is  only  as  individuals.  It  was  left 
for  our  glorious  America  to  teach  them  all  a  lesson  in  how  to  exterminate 
this  social  vermin  by  chopping  off  its  head,  and  thus  kill  the  body  of  the 
movement. 

Will  our  children  be  proud  of  “our”  Government  for  this  atroc¬ 
ity?  Let  us  rather  hope  that  the  spit  it  of  liberty  and  the  detestation 
of  privilege  shall  have  once  more  asserted  itself  on  American  soil,  and 
that  our  children,  instead  of  being  “proud,”  will  avert  their  faces  in 
shame  when  they  come  to  this  page  in  history,  written  by  the 
blood  of  the  first  martyrs  who  fell  for  opinion’s  sake  in  the  battle  for 
economic  freedom. 

*Cook  County  Bastile,  Cell  No.  29, 

Chicago,  August  20,  1886. 

My  Darling  Wife: 

Our  verdict  this  morning  cheers  the  hearts  of  tyrants  throughout  the 
world,  and  the  result  will  be  celebrated  by  King  Capital  in  its  drunken  feast 
of  flowing  wine  from  Chicago  to  St.  Petersburg.  Nevertheless,  our  doom  to 
death  is  the  handwriting  on  the  wall,  foretelling  the  downfall  of  hate,  malice, 
hypocrisy,  judicial  murder,  oppression,  and  the  domination  of  man  over  his 
fellow-man.  The  oppressed  of  earth  are  writhing  in  their  legal  chains.  The 
giant  Labor  is  awakening.  The  masses,  aroused  from  their  stupor,  will  snap 
their  petty  chains  like  reeds  in  the  whirlwind. 

We  are  all  creatures  of  circumstance;  we  are  what  we  have  been  made 
to  be.  This  truth  is  becoming  clearer  day  by  day. 

There  was  no  evidence  that  any  one  of  the  eight  doomed  men  knew  of,  or 
advised,  or  abetted  the  Haymarket  tragedy.  But  what  does  that  matter?  The 
privileged  class  demands  a  victim,  and  we  are  offered  a  sacrifice  to  appease 
the  hungry  yells  of  an  infuriated  mob  of  millionaires,  who  will  be  contented 
with  nothing  less  than  our  lives.  Monopoly  triumphs !  Labor  in  chains 
ascends  the  scaffold  for  having  dared  to  cry  out  for  liberty  and  right ! 


♦The  above  letter  was  handed  to  me  by  Mr.  Parsons  in  the  afternoon  of  August 
20,  18SG,  the  first  time  I  had  seen  him  after  the  verdict  was  rendered. 

Lucy  E.  Parsons. 


ECHOES  FROM  PRISON  CELL. 


235 


Well,  my  poor,  dear  wife,  I,  personally,  feel  sorry  for  you  and  the  helpless 
little  babes  of  our  loins. 

You  I  bequeath  to  the  people,  a  woman  of  the  people.  I  have  one  request 
to  make  of  you :  Commit  no  rash  act  to  yourself  when  I  am  gone,  but  take  up 
the  great  cause  of  Socialism  where  I  am  compelled  to  lay  it  down. 

My  children — well,  their  father  had  better  die  in  the  endeavor  to  secure 
their  liberty  and  happiness  than  live  contented  in  a  society  which  condemns 
nine-tenths  of  its  children  to  a  life  of  wage-slavery  and  poverty.  Bless  them ; 
I  love  them  unspeakably,  my  poor  helpless  little  ones. 

Ah,  wife,  living  or  dead,  we  are  as  one.  For  you  my  affection  is  everlast¬ 
ing.  For  the  people — humanity.  I  cry  out  again  and  again  in  the  doomed 
victim’s  cell:  Liberty — Justice — Equality.  Albert  R.  Parsons. 


Cook  County  Bastile,  Cell  No.  29, 

Chicago,  August  12,  1886. 

My  Dear  Friends  at  Waukesha: 

Receiving  no  reply  to  my  letter  sent  last  Tuesday,  I  write  again.  I  want 
to  hear  from  you  all.  How  are  the  children?*  Bless  them.  I  know  they  are 
happy;  how  else  could  they  be  while  surrounded  by  such  generous,  kind  and 
honest  people  as  you  all  are?  Bless  you.  Ah,  this  Sabbath  day  my  mind 
wanders  back  to  the  happy  hours  and  pleasant  scenes  while  with  you  in  Wau¬ 
kesha.  Do  you  remember  that  bright  and  sunny  Sabbath  morning  of  June 
last,  when  with  songs  and  cheer  we  put  out  for  a  day  at  Pewaukee  Lake? 
The  trip,  oh,  that  glorious  ride  over  hill,  through  valley,  amid  winding  dell, 
and  across  gurgling  brooks  and  green  fields ;  the  singing  birds,  the  shady 
groves,  the  air  laden  with  nature’s  sweet  breath,  the  perfume  of  wild  roses, 
clover,  cherry,  apple,  and  many  beautiful  flowers  in  fragrant  bloom  lining  the 
roadside  all  the  way;  and  our  hearts,  yielding  to  the  pure,  the  noble  influences 
which  nature  inspires,  gave  response  in  merry  laugh  and  joyous  songs — oh, 
that  blessed  day !  It  is  treasured  in  my  memory  as  a  bright  oasis  on  life’s 
dreary  way.  And  I  involuntarily  ask,  shall  we  ever  see  and  feel  them  again? 
Perhaps  not;  very  likely  not. 

Is  my  life  at  an  end?  Am  I  already  buried  and  in  my  tomb?  The  law — 
man’s  law — has  so  decreed  it.  Nature — or  God’s  law — revolts  at  the  verdict. 
Which  ought  to — yea,  which  shall — prevail  ?  I  know  not.  But  this  I  know : 
that  millions  of  nature’s  noblest  and  best  have  their  thoughts  to-day  with 
myself  and  loved  comrades  in  prison  and  doomed  to  suffer  unnatural  death. 
Do  not  think  that  I  am  complaining,  or  that  I  am  disheartened,  or  cast  down. 
I  am  not;  we  are  not.  If  we  are  called  upon  to  die  for  Socialism,  for  liberty, 
fraternity,  equality,  for  our  oppressed  and  down-trodden  fellow-men,  we  can 

*His  children,  Albert  and  Lulu,  were  at  this  time  stopping  at  Waukesha, 
Wis. 


236 


EtHOES  FROM  PRISON  CELL. 


do  it  calmly,  quietly — yea,  cheerfully.  If  the  sacrifice  is  needed,  then  we  make 
the  offer.  Can  man  do  more  for  his  fellow-men? 

We  eat,  sleep,  read,  write,  think;  we — all  of  us — are  cheerful,  and  bid  our 
comrades  everywhere  stand  for  the  right  and  falter  not. 

Kiss  the  little  ones  for  papa  and  mamma.  Love  to  all ;  bless  you  all. 

A.  R.  Parsons. 


Cook  County  Bastile,  Cell  No.  29, 

Chicago,  October  12,  1886. 

My  Dear  Friends  at  Waukesha: 

At  the  command  of  those  in  authority  I  and  my  comrades  are  to  be  put  to 
death.'  The  power  by  which  they  are  enabled  to  murder  us  is  given  them  by 
law — man’s  law — and  is  exercised  in  violation  of  their  own  law.  They  believe 
it  necessary,  in  order  to  perpetuate  their  power  and  law — statute  law — to  vio¬ 
late  both  the  constitution  and  the  statute  law.  Liberty  condemns  all  man¬ 
made  laws,  all  authority,  all  rulership,  all  coercion  or  force. 

Our  crime — our  only  crime,  our  only  offense — is  that  we  declare,  we  de¬ 
fend  the  right  of  every  human  being  to  life  and  liberty.  We  seek  the  millennium 
of  peace,  of  joy,  of  fraternal  brotherhood.  The  penalty,  or  their  punishment, 
is  to  put  us  to  an  ignominious  death.  Do  we  die  in  vain?  We  pay  the  price, 
but  those  who  come  after  us  will  receive  the  reward  of  our  efforts,  viz. : 
Liberty.  Already  the  people — not  the  rulers,  but  the  people — are  greatly 
stirred.  The  day  dawns ! 

The  Court  was  filled  with  rich  Christians,  Board  of  Trade,  railroad,  real 
estate,  and  other  millionaires. 

In  my  defense  to  the  Court  and  before  the  world,  when  explaining  the 
working  people’s  demonstration  against  the  Board  of  Trade  in  Chicago  last 
year,  I  read  from  the  Bible  which  you  sent  me  these  words :  When  Christ 
“cast  out  all  them  that  bought  and  sold” ;  also  from  Matthew  xxi,  10-14,  and 
St.  Luke  xi,  15-19.  I  quoted  to  the  pulpits  of  Mammon  where  the  pretended 
followers  of  Jesus  cried:  “Execute,  execute!”  I  called  these  hypocrites’  at¬ 
tention  to  the  fact  that  we  (the  Anarchists)  desired  to  neither  buy  nor  sell 
anything  whatsoever,  while  they  (the  capitalists)  bought  and  sold  everything 
— life,  liberty,  honor,  everything.  The  hypocrites!  If  we  must  die,  then 
we  CAN. 

Tell  Miss  Annie  that  the  beautiful  flowers  she  sent  me,  which  had  bloomed 
from  the  seed  we  planted  around  the  porch  last  spring,  are  like  the  seeds  of 
liberty  which  we  now  plant;  they  will  blossom  and  fill  with  joy  the  hearts  of 
our  fellow-men.  I  kissed  the  precious  flowers  again  and  again,  and  watered 
them  with  my  tears.  Yours  for  Truth, 


A.  R.  Parsons. 


CHAPTER  II. 


EXTRACTS  FROM  MR.  PARSONS’  “APPEAL  TO  THE  PEO¬ 
PLE  OF  AMERICA.” 

Let  the  accused  answer : 

“Fellow  Citizens :  As  all  the  world  knows,  I  have  been  convicted 
and  sentenced  to  die  for  the  crime  of  murder;  the  most  heinous  of¬ 
fense  that  can  be  committed.  Under  the  forms  of  law,  two  Courts, 
viz. :  the  Criminal  and  Supreme  Courts  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  have 
sentenced  me  to  death  as  an  accessory  before  the  fact,  to  the  murder 
of  Officer  Degan  on  May  4,  1886.  Nevertheless,  I  am  innocent  of 
the  crime  charged,  and  to  a  candid  and  unprejudiced  world  I  submit 
the  proof. 

“The  Supreme  Court  quotes  articles  from  the  Alarm ,  the  paper 
edited  by  me,  and  from  my  speeches,  running  back  three  years  before 
the  Haymarket  tragedy  of  May  4,  1886.  Upon  said  articles  and 
speeches  the  Court  affirms  the  sentence  of  death  as  an  accessory.  The 
Court  says :  ‘The  articles  in  the  Alarm  were  most  of  them  written  by 
the  defendant  Parsons,’  and  then  proceeds  to  quote  these  articles. 

“I  refer  to  the  record  to  prove  that  of  all  the  articles  quoted  only 
one  was  shown  to  have  been  written  by  me.  I,  of  course,  wrote  a 
great  many  articles  for  the  Alarm ,  but  the  record  will  show  that  only 
one  of  the  many  quoted  was  written  by  me.  And  this  article  appeared 
in  the  Alarm  December  6,  1884,  one  year  and  a  half  before  the  Hay- 
market  meeting.* 

*  *  *  *  *  *  * 

“Extracts  from  three  speeches  alleged  to  have  been  delivered  by 
me  more  than  one  year  prior  to  May  4,  1886,  are  given ;  two  of  these 

*The  article  is  given  in  full,  and  is  simply  a  comment  upon  General-in- 
Chief  U.  S.  A.  Sheridan’s  annual  reports. 


?37 


238 


ECHOES  FROM  PRISON  CELL. 


speeches  were  repeated  from  the  memory  of  the  Pinkerton  detective, 
Johnson.  These  are  the  speeches  quoted  by  the  Court  as  proof  of  my 
guilt  as  accessory  to  the  murder  of  Degan.  I  am  bold  to  declare  that 
such  a  connection  is  imperceptible  to  the  eye  of  a  fair  and  unpreju¬ 
diced  mind. 

*4*  'l'  «i#  *4* 

“But  the  honorable  body,  the  Supreme  Court  of  Illinois,  has  con¬ 
demned  me  to  death  for  speeches  I  never  made  and  articles  I  never 
wrote.  In  the  affirmation  of  the  death  sentence  the  Court  has 
"guessed/  ‘surmised/  and  ‘presumed’  that  I  said  and  did  ‘so-and-so/ 
This  the  record  fully  proves.  *  *  *  *  Now  I  defy  any  one 

to  show  from  the  record  that  I  wrote  more  than  one  of  the  many 
articles  alleged  to  have  been  written  by  me.  Yet  the  Supreme  Court 
says  I  wrote  and  am  responsible  for  all  of  them.  Again,  concerning 
the  alleged  speeches,  they  were  reported  by  the  Pinkerton  detective, 
Johnson,  who,  as  the  record  shows,  was  employed  by  Lyman  J.  Gage, 
Vice-President  of  the  First  National  Bank,  as  agent  of  the  Citizens’ 
Association,  composed  of  the  millionaire  employers  of  Chicago.  I 
submit  to  a  candid  world  if  this  hired  spy  would  not  make  false  re¬ 
ports  to  earn  his  blood  money.  Thus  it  is  for  speeches  I  did  not  make 
and  articles  I  did  not  write  I  am  sentenced  to  die,  because  the  Court 
‘assumes’  that  these  articles  influenced  some  unknown  and  still  un¬ 
identified  person  to  throw  the  bomb  that  killed  Degan.  Is  this  law  ? 
Is  this  justice?” 

^  ^  ^ 

“But,”  will  inquire  the  reader,  “didn’t  he  belong  to  an  armed  or¬ 
ganization  which  had  for  its  objects  the  destruction  of  life  and  prop¬ 
erty  ?” 

Hear  Mr.  Parsons  again  on  this  point : 

The  Court  says : 

“‘Among  them  (meaning  the  people  at  the  Haymarket)  were 
men  who  belonged  to  the  International  Rifles,  an  armed  organization, 
in  which  he  himself  was  an  officer,  and  in  which  he  had  been  drilling 
in  preparation  for  the  events  then  transpiring.’ 

“Now,  I  challenge  the  Supreme  Court,  or  any  other  gentleman,  tg 


239 


ECHOES  FROM  PRISON  CELL. 

prove  from  the  record  in  my  trial  that  there  ever  existed  such  an  or¬ 
ganization  as  that  armed  section  of  the  American  Group,  known  as 
the  International  Rifles.  Members  of  the  American  Group  did  or¬ 
ganize  the  International  Rifles,  which  never  met  but  four  or  five 
times,  was  never  armed  with  rifles,  or  any  other  weapons,  and  dis¬ 
banded  nearly  one  year  before  May  4,  1886. 

<1#  vj# 

'j' 

“I  have  been  tried  ostensibly  for  murder,  but  in  reality  for  An¬ 
archism.  I  have  been  proven  guilty  of  being  an  Anarchist  and  con¬ 
demned  to  die  for  that  reason.  The  State’s  Attorney  said  in  his  state¬ 
ment  before  the  Court  and  jury  in  the  beginning  of  the  trial :  'these 

DEFENDANTS  WERE  PICKED  OUT  AND  INDICTED  BY  THE  GRAND  JURY,* 
THEY  ARE  NO  MORE  GUILTY  THAN  THE  THOUSANDS  WHO  FOLLOW 
THEM.  THEY  ARE  PICKED  OUT  BECAUSE  THEY  ARE  LEADERS.  CONVICT 

them  and  our  society  is  safe/  And  in  their  last  appeal  to  the  jury 
the  prosecution  said :  'anarchy  is  on  trial,  hang  these  eight 

MEN  AND  SAVE  OUR  INSTITUTIONS.  THESE  ARE  THE  LEADERS;  MAKE 

examples  of  them/  This  is  a  matter  of  record. 

5|i  Jji  5fj 

"My  ancestors  partook  of  all  the  hardships  incident  to  the  estab¬ 
lishment  of  this  Republic.  They  fought,  bled,  and  some  of  them  died 
that  the  declaration  of  independence  might  live  and  the  American  flag 
might  wave  in  triumph  over  those  who  disclaim  the  divine  right  of 
kings  to  rule.  Shall  that  flag  now,  after  a  century’s  triumph,  trail 
in  the  mire  of  oppression,  and  protect  the  perpetration  of  outrages 
and  oppressions  that  would  put  the  older  despotisms  of  Europe  to 
shame  ? 

"Knowing  myself  innocent  of  crime,  I  came  forward  and  gave 
myself  up  for  trial.  I  felt  it  was  my  duty  to  take  my  chances  with 
the  rest  of  my  comrades.  I  sought  a  fair  and  impartial  trial  before  a 
jury  of  my  peers,  and  knew  that  before  any  fair-minded  jury  I  could 
with  but  little  difficulty  be  cleared.  I  preferred  to  be  tried  and  take 
the  chances  of  an  acquittal  to  being  hunted  as  a  felon.  Have  I  had  a 
fair  trial?  *  *  *  No,  I  am  not  guilty.  I  have  not  been  proven 

guilty.  I  leave  it  to  the  people  to  decide  from  the  record  itself  as  to 


240 


ECHOES  FROM  PRISON  CELL. 


my  guilt  or  innocence.  I  cannot,  therefore,  accept  a  commutation  to 
imprisonment.  I  appeal  not  for  mercy,  but  for  justice.  As  for  me, 
the  utterance  of  Patrick  Henry  is  SO'  apropos  that  I  cannot  do  bet¬ 
ter  than  let  him  speak : 

“  ‘Is  life  so  dear  and  peace  so  sweet  as  to  be  purchased  at  the 
price  of  chains  of  slavery?  Forbid  it,  Almighty  God.  I  know  not 
what  course  others  may  pursue,  but  as  for  me,  give  me  liberty,  or  give 
me  death.’ 

“Albert  R.  Parsons. 

“Chicago,  III.,  September  21,  1887. 

“Prison  Cell  No.  29.” 

\|/  vj.  ^ 

These  are  extracts  taken  from  Mr.  Parsons’  “Appeal  to  the  People 
of  America.” 

The  appeal  in  full  can  be  found  in  the  book  he  wrote  himself — 
“Anarchism.”  As  also  his  letter  to  Oglesby  regarding  his  case,  under 
date  of  October  13,  1887. 

PRISON  PASTIME. 

Among  the  occupations  of  Mr.  Parsons’  idle  moments  he  made 
two  small  steamers  with  his  pocket-knife,  one  of  which  he  sent  to 
Justus  H.  Schwab,  of  New  York,  to  be  raffled  for.  In  the  box  con¬ 
taining  it  was  a  piece  of  rope  obtained  from  a  deputy  sheriff.  The 
grim  humor  of  the  following  note,  accompanying  the  box,  speaks  for 
itself : 

Cook  County  Bastile,  Cell  No.  29, 

Chicago,  September  21,  1887. 

My  Dear  Comrade: 

With  this  I  express  to  you  the  tug  boat  which  I  cut  and  made  with  my 
pocket  knife  to  while  away  the  lonely  hours  in  my  cell.  Also  I  send  you  a 
hangman’s  noose  which  is  emblematic  of  our  capitalistic,  Christian  civiliza¬ 
tion.  The  rope  is  official — the  kind  which  it  is  proposed  to  strangle  myself 
and  comrades  with.  The  knot  was  tied  by  myself,  and  is  the  regulation  style. 
I  give  it  to  you  as  a  memento  of  our  time.  Fraternally, 

Albert  R.  Parsons. 

The  boat  was  put  up  at  raffle,  and  some  doubts  having  arisen 


. 


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ECHOES  FROM  PRISON  CELL. 


241 


whether  such  an  artistic  piece  of  work  could  have  been  made  by  him 
with  only  his  pocket  knife,  a  dispatch  was  wired  him  for  information. 
The  following  answer  was  immediately  returned : 

Chicago,  November  3,  1887. 

F.  W.  Sasse: 

It  was  made  in  my  cell  by  myself  to  be  raffled  for  the  benefit  of  my  family, 
but  I  feel  like  presenting  it  to  Comrade  Schwab.  Fraternally, 

Albert  R  Parsons. 


TELEGRAMS  TO'  PARSONS. 

Following  are  copies  of  the  four  dispatches  received  by  Albert  R. 
Parsons  a  short  time  before  his  execution: 

New  York,  November  10,  1887. 

Dear  Albert:  Another  Gethsemane  to-night.  More  than  a  legion  of  angels 
with  pitying  eyes  survey  the  spectacle  of  man’s  inhumanity  to  man.  Millions 
of  hearts  in  Europe  and  America  are  now  thrilling  with  sympathy  for  the  men 
who  died  for  humanity.  I  am  proud  of  your  sublimity,  fortitude,  and  heredi¬ 
tary  heroism.  Your  Brother. 

Boston,  Mass.,  November  11,  1887. 

Albert  R.  Parsons ,  Cook  County  Jail:  Not  good-bye,  but  hail  brothers. 
From  the  gallow’s  trap  the  march  will  be  taken  up.  I  will  listen  for  the  beat¬ 
ing  of  the  drum.  Josephine  Tilton. 

St.  Louis,  Mo.,  November  11,  1887. 

Albert  R.  Parsons,  Prisoner:  Glorious  martyr,  in  the  name  of  social  prog¬ 
ress  bravely  meet  your  fate.  C.  R.  Davis. 

San  Francisco,  November  10,  1887. 

Brave  Parsons:  Your  name  will  live  long  after  people  will  ask:  “Who 
was  Oglesby?”  Four  Citizens. 

To  the  sender  of  the  first  telegram  Parsons  desired  that  his  red 
silk  handkerchief  be  sent. 


For  a  detailed  and  faithful  account  of  the  last  sad  hours  of  his  life,  when  the 
shadows  of  the  scaffold  were  thickening  and  casting  their  gloom  upon  the  prison 
cell,  read  his  own  graphic  account  of  his  thoughts  and  feelings  when  on  that  last 
night  he  heard  them  erecting  the  gallows  upon  which  he  was  to  die  in  a  few  fleeting 
hours,  in  his  book  on  “Anarchism,”  which  he  wrote  thirty  days  before  his  judicial 
murder.  These,  together  with  a  great  deal  of  interesting  matter,  will  be  found  in  the 
Appendix  of  the  book. 


24  2 


ECHOES  FROM  PRISON  CELL. 


THE,  MIRROR  OF  THE  PRESS. 

Up  to  3  o’clock  Parsons  had  not  retired,  but  was  talking  to  his 
guards,  Bailiffs  Hanks  and  Rooney.  At  12:30  o’clock  he  sang  in  a 
low  voice  an  Anarchist  song  named  “Marching  to  Liberty,”  to  the 
tune  of  the  “Marseillaise,”  which  he  sang  at  several  Anarchist  meet¬ 
ings  formerly.  He  also  sang  “Annie  Laurie.”  Bailiff  Hawkins  sug¬ 
gested  that  he  ought  to  try  and  get  a  little  sleep.  Parsons  answered  in 
a  joking  way : 

“How  can  a  fellow  go  to  sleep  with  the  music  made  by  putting  up 
the  gallows?” 


PARSONS’  RELIGIOUS  VIEWS. 

Taken  from  the  Chicago  Tribune,  November  h,  1887. 

Albert  R.  Parsons  yesterday  sent  the  following  letter  to  the 
Tribune : 

Cook  County  Bastile,  Cell  No.  29, 

Chicago,  November  3,  1887. 

Editor  of  the  Tribune : 

In  your  issue  of  to-day  on  the  “People’s  Page,”  and  column  headed 
“Voice  of  the  People,”  a  correspondent  asks :  “To  settle  a  dispute  please 
state  what  religion  Anarchist  Parsons  has,  or  has  he  any  religion?”  To  which 
you  reply  “No.” 

To  settle  a  dispute  concerning  my  religious  belief,  which  will  doubtless 
arise  after  my  judicial  assassination,  when  it  will  be  beyond  my  power  to 
speak,.  I  desire  to  say  to  your  inquirer,  and  to  all  others,  that  religion  in  the 
sense  now  understood  and  practiced  by  those  who  profess  it  is  merely  a  blind 
faith  of  the  honestly  superstitious,  or  a  cloak  of  designing  knaves. 

If  there  is  a  Supreme  Being,  or  Almighty  God,  who  rules  the  universe,  the 
sphere  as  well  as  the  actions  of  puny  men,  then  why  do  these  who  profess  al¬ 
legiance  to  Him  cast  aside  and  violate  His  laws  and  impeach  His  integrity  and 
insult  His  beneficency  by  erecting  man-made  governments  and  enacting 
man-made  laws,  and  use  the  bloody  weapons  of  war  to  prop  up  and  maintain 
these  man-made  laws  and  Governments? 

My  religion — if  it  can  be  called  such — is,  viz. :  Who  so  lives  right  dies 
right ;  there  is  but  one  God — Humanity.  Any  other  kind  of  religion  is  a 
mockery,  a  delusion  and  a  snare.  Respectfully, 


A.  R.  Parsons. 


CHAPTER  III. 


LAST  HOURS  OF  LIFE. 

The  news  of  Governor  Oglesby’s  refusal  to  commute  the  death 
sentence  except  as  to  Fielden  and  Schwab  was  received  by  all  the 
prisoners  with  perfect  composure. 

The  deputy  sheriff  who  was  with  Parsons  for  three  hours  on  the 
night  of  Nov.  io,  undertook,  when  he  was  relieved  at  one  o’clock  A. 
M.  to  tell  what  the  condemned  man  had  said,  but  when  he  began  to 
realize  the  enormity  of  the  task,  he  cut  his  narrative  short  by  saying : 
“He  was  very  cheerful  and  hopeful.”  Such  was  indeed  the  case. 
Parsons  was  never  in  better  humor  than  he  was  that  night.  He 
seemed  to  forget  entirely  that  he  would  have  to  die  within  twelve 
hours,  so  interested  did  he  become  in  his  own  harangue  to  the  death 
watch.  He  talked  about  socialism,  about  anarchy,  the  Haymarket, 
and  his  wife  and  children.  It  was  not  until  he  had  reached  this  sub¬ 
ject  that  he  manifested  any  sorrow  or  regret,  and  the  more  he  talked 
about  it  the  more  sorrowful  he  became.  He  said  his  wife  was  a 
brave  woman,  a  true  wife  and  a  good  mother. 

During  the  early  part  of  the  night  his  rapt  soul  poured  itself  forth 
in  song.  He  sang  the  old  yet  beautiful  ballad :  “Annie  Laurie.” 

As  the  clear  tenor  voice  rang  through  the  gloomy  corridors  the 
other  prisoners  raised  themselves  on  their  elbows  and  listened.  Doubt¬ 
less  to  many  the  beautiful  lines  recalled  tender  memories  of  other 
days. 

Early  the  morning  of  the  nth  all  the  doomed  men  were  awake. 
Parsons  ate  fried  oysters  and  seemed  to  enjoy  them.  After  breakfast¬ 
ing,  he  recited  Marc  Cook’s  beautiful  poem,  entitled  “Waiting,”  with 
smiling  features : 


243 


244 


LAST  HOURS  OF  LIFE. 


\ 


Tell  me,  O  sounding  sea !  I  pray, 
Eternally  undulating, 

Where  is  the  good  ship  that  sailed  away 
Once  on  a  long-gone  summer’s  day — 
Sailed  and  left  me  waiting. 


No  braver  ship  was  ever  seen, 

As  over  the  sunlit  waters 
She  glided  on  with  stately  mien 
Of  a  fair,  white-vested  ocean  queen — 

A  queen  among  Neptune’s  daughters. 

Her  sails  were  white  as  the  wings  of  a  dove — 
Alas,  for  the  fate  she  was  daring! 

Gayly  she  rode  the  waves  above, 

Gayly,  as  if  all  conscious  of 
The  precious  freight  she  was  bearing. 

And  never  before  sailed  ship  from  shore 
With  a  cargo  half  so  precious ; 

Youth,  hope  and  love  my  good  ship  bore, 

And  all  the  fair  visions  that  come  no  more 
In  sadder  days  to  refresh  us. 

Yes,  hope  and  love,  the  dreams  of  fame, 

Youth’s  sweet  self-satisfaction, 

Ambition,  which  kindles  the  blood  to  flame, 

The  lusty  longing  to  win  a  name 
On  life’s  broad  field  of  action : 

All  these  my  good  ship  bore  away — 

With  such  rare  treasures  freighted 
She  sailed  on  that  long-flown  summer’s  day : 

How  long  it  is  no  tongue  can  say — 

Yet  still  have  I  waited — waited ! 

And  ever  this  barren  shore  have  I  paced 
With  eyes  still  wearily  straining, 

Gazing  out  on  the  water’s  waste, 

Where  naught  remains  of  the  faith  that  I  placed 
In  the  blue  waves,  uncomplaining. 


LAST  HOURS  OF  LIFE. 


245 


And  so,  through  the  long  and  desolate  years, 

Have  I  watched  for  my  ship’s  returning; 

Watched  and  waited  ’mid  doubts  and  fears, 

Waited  and  watched,  when  the  scalding  tears 
Adown  my  cheeks  were  burning. 

The  seasons  have  gone  and  rolled  away, 

Each  with  its  burden  freighted, 

But  whether  December  or  whether  May, 

In  flush  of  the  morn  or  twilight  gray, 

Still  have  I  waited — waited! 

The  busy  world  to  the  New  has  turned, 

Its  pulses  palpitating; 

Again  have  life’s  bitter  lessons  been  learned, 

And  hands  have  labored  and  hearts  have  burned. 

While  I  for  my  ship  have  been  waiting. 

But  now  I  am  weary  and  hope  is  flown 
And  the  sea’s  sad  undulating 
Breaks  on  my  ear  like  a  dismal  moan; 

My  ship  has  gone  down  in  the  waters  unknown, 

And  vain  has  been  all  my  waiting. 

Shortly  afterward  he  said  to  Brainerd :  “I  am  a  Mason  and  have 
always  tried  to  help  my  fellow-man  all  my  life.  I  am  going  out  of 
the  world  with  a  clear  conscience.  I  die  that  others  may  live/’  He 
then  gave  Brainerd  the  Masonic  grip  and  word  to  authenticate  his 
statement. 

Rev.  Dr.  Bolton  was  met  by  personal  kindness,  but  with  religious 
indifference.  Parsons  flattered  the  exhorter  by  listening  to  his  prof¬ 
fered  grace,  mercy,  and  peace,  but  overturned  the  good  impression 
when  he  answered :  “Preachers  are  all  Pharisees,  and  you  know  what 
Jesus  Christ’s  opinion  of  the  Pharisees  was.  He  called  them  a  gener¬ 
ation  of  vipers  and  likened  them  to  whited  sepulchres.  I  don’t  desire 
to  have  anything  to  do>  with  either.” 

When  Dr.  Bolton  said  farewell  Parsons  shook  his  hand  and  said : 
“Thank  you,”  and  added,  “Don’t  forget,  though,  I  didn’t  send  for 
you.”  He  referred  to  his  wife  as  a  “lion-hearted”  woman,  said  his 
children  would  not  feel  his  loss  on  account  of  their  youth,  and  favored 


246 


LAST  HOURS  OF  LIFE. 


the  turnkey  with  snatches  from  the  “Marseillaise/’  his  favorite  song 
of  liberty  and  death  to  oppressors.  On  being  asked  if  he  wished 
stimulants  he  answered,  “No.”  “I  wish  to  go  off  sober,”  said  Par¬ 
sons,  and  perhaps  the  temperance  people  will  be  disposed  to  drop  a 
single  tear  of  sympathy  in  consequence. 

The  moment  his  feet  touched  the  scaffold,  Parsons  seemed  to 
completely  lose  his  identity  and  to  feel  that  his  spirit  was  no  longer  a 
part  of  his  body.  He  stood  like  one  transfigured.  Only  he — the  one 
American — seemed  to  realize  to  the  full  that  he  must  die  in  a  manner 
to  impress,  if  possible,  on  all  future  generations  the  thought  that  he 
was  a  martyr.  No  tragedian  that  has  paced  a  stage  in  America  ever 
made  a  more  marvelous  presentation  of  a  self-chosen  part,  perfect  in 
every  detail.  The  upward  turn  of  his  eyes,  his  distant,  far-away  look 
and,  above  all  the  attitude  of  apparent  complete  resignation  that  every 
fold  of  the  awkward  shroud  only  served  to  make  more  distinct,  was 
by  far  the  most  striking  feature  of  the  entire  gallows  picture. 


A  UNIQUE  DOCUMENT. 

Chicago,  November  11,  1887,  9:10  a.  m. 

*C.  R.  Matson ,  Sheriff  Cook  Co.,  III.: 

I  request  you  to  deliver  my  dead  body  to  my  wife,  Lucy  E.  Parsons,  No. 
785  Milwaukee  avenue.  A.  R.  Parsons. 


READY  FOR  THE  SCAFFOLD. f 

The  deputies  who  were  with  the  four  during  the  half-hour  before 
the  procession  was  formed  were  greatly  impressed  with  their  courage 
and  fortitude. 

*It  will  be  observed  that  Mr.  Parsons  was  compelled  to  sign  an  order  turning  his 
body  over  to  his  wife.  This  was  unprecedented  in  this  State.  The  reason  for  it  was 
this :  The  Citizens’  Association  and  other  capitalists  tried  to  persuade  Sheriff 
Matson  to  secret  the  bodies  and  not  turn  them  over  to  the  families ;  but  he  refused 
to  do  it.  In  order  to  prevent  them  from  stealing  the  bodies  he,  on  his  own  responsi¬ 
bility,  caused  each  one  to  sign  an  order  requesting  of  him  to  deliver  their  bodies  to 
their  families,  and  these  orders  were  placed  in  the  hands  of  undertakers,  who  waited 
in  the  jail  yard  until  the  murder  was  committed,  with  these  orders,  to  prevent  the 
bodies  from  being  stolen  by  the  ghouls. 

fThis  extract  is  from  one  of  the  city  dailies  which  was  most  bitter  in  urging  the 
officials  and  jury  to  “discharge  their  duty  to  society,”  and,  coming  from  this  source, 
could  hardly  be  called  a  favorable  prejudiced  account. 


LAST  HOURS  OF  LIFE. 


247 


After  reading  the  telegram  sent  from  San  Francisco  and  signed 
“Four  Citizens/’  Parsons  took  a  pencil  from  his  pocket  and  indorsed 
it  on  the  back,  “A.  R.  Parsons,  November  11,  1887,”  and  handed  it 
to  Bailiff  William  B.  Brainerd,  saying:  “I  will  make  you  a  present 
of  this  as  a  relic.” 

A  short  time  before  the  pinioning  a  deputy  offered  Parsons  a  glass 
of  wine.  He  refused  it,  saying:  “No,  thanks.  I  would  prefer  a  cup 
of  coffee.”  A  pot  of  coffee  and  a  bowl  of  crackers  were  procured. 
He  drank  the  coffee  and  ate  a  few  of  the  crackers,  afterwards  thank¬ 
ing  the  deputy  and  exclaiming:  “Now  I  feel  all  right.  Let’s  finish 
the  business.” 

During  the  reading  of  the  death  warrant  his  face  was  a  study. 
His  eyes  were  unnaturally  brilliant,  but  whatever  emotion  he  felt  was 
firmly  checked  by  the  indomitable  spirit  which  had  hitherto  sustained 
him.  He  toyed  carelessly  with  his  mustache  and  let  his  eyes  rest 
easily  upon  the  objects  about  him.  As  the  men  moved  forward  Par¬ 
sons  turned  to  the  Jenkinses  of  the  press,  who  were  scrutinizing  every 
action,  and  said  sarcastically:  “Won’t  you  come  inside?” 

When  the  halter  was  placed  about  his  neck  he  never  faltered.  He 
stood  erect,  looking  earnestly  yet  reproachfully  at  the  people  before 
him.  The  nooses  were  quickly  adjusted,  the  caps  pulled  down,  and  a 
hasty  movement  made  for  the  traps.  Then  from  beneath  the  hoods 
came  these  words : 

Spies :  “There  will  be  a  time  when  our  silence  will  be  more  pow¬ 
erful  than  the  voices  you  strangle  to-day !” 

Fischer:  “Hurrah  for  anarchy — ” 

Engel:  “Hurrah  for  anarchy!” 

Fischer :  “This  is  the  happiest  moment  of  my  life !” 

Parsons :  “Will  I  be  allowed  to  speak,  O  men  of  America  ?  Let 
me  speak,  Sheriff  Matson !  Let  the  voice  of  the  people  be  heard ! 
O — * — ”  But  the  signal  had  been  given,  and  the  officers  of  the  State 
performed  their  mission  by  strangling  both  speakers  and  speech. 


248 


LAST  HOURS  OF  LIFE. 


Last  Letter  to  an  Old  Comrade. 

•  / 

Cook  County  Jail,  Nov.  ii,  1887. — My  Dear  Comrade  Lum: 
Eight  (8)  o’clock  A.  M.  The  guard  has  just  awakened  me.  I  have 
washed  face  and  drank  cup  of  coffee.  The  doctor  asked  if  I  wanted 
stimulants.  I  said  no.  The  dear  “boys,”  Engel,  Fischer  and  Spies, 
saluted  me  with  firm  voices. 

Please  see  Sheriff  Matson  and  take  charge  of  my  papers  and  let¬ 
ters.  Among  them  find  MS.  letters  from  Gen.  W.  H.  Parsons’  book 
— return  it  to  Norfolk,  Va.  Please  have  my  book  on  “Anarchism : 
Its  Philosophy  and  Scientific  Basis”  put  into  good  shape,  etc. 

Later. — Well,  my  dear  old  comrade,  the  fatal  hour  draws  near. 
Caesar  kept  me  awake  till  late  at  night  with  the  noise  (music)  of  ham¬ 
mer  and  saw,  erecting  his  throne,  my  scaffold.  Refinement !  Civili¬ 
zation!  Matson  (sheriff)  tells  me  he  refused  to  agree  to  let  Caesar 
(State)  secrete  my  body,  and  he  has  just  got  my  wife’s  address  from 
me  to  send  her  my  remains.  Magnanimous  Caesar !  Alas,  good-bye ! 
Hail  the  social  revolution !  Salutations  to  all. 


A.  R.  Parsons. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


ARREST  OF  MRS.  PARSONS  AND  CHILDREN. 

Under  the  deep  shadow  of  that  awful  tragedy,  enacted  on  the 
eleventh  day  of  November,  many  shameful  deeds  passed  almost  un¬ 
noticed  ;  the  gloom,  so  dense  that  the  close  of  the  century  will  scarcely 
see  it  lightened,  veiled  the  blackness  of  injustices  that  would  have 
appalled  the  hearts  of  the  people  if  thrown  up  against  the  light  of 
freedom  in  brighter  days.  Now,  it  is  well  that  they  be  brought 
forth  for  investigation;  the  judgment  of  the  people  must  be  given  on 
proceedings  done  in  the  name  of  “law  and  order,”  in  this  so-called 
free  country. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  in  the  extras  of  Friday,  Nov.  n,  a 
casual  notice  of  the  arrest  of  Mrs.  Parsons  “for  persistent  disobe¬ 
dience  of  orders,”  and  that  of  a  lady  friend  for  “haranguing  the  peo¬ 
ple”  was  given.  The  officers  were  reported  as  being  “very  courteous 
and  gentle,”  and  the  ladies  “were  given  arm-chairs  in  the  registry 
office  merely  to  keep  them  away  from  the  crowd  and  prevent  trou¬ 
ble.” 

This  is  the  true  story:  On  Thursday  evening  after  Governor 
Oglesby’s  tardy  decision  had  been  given,  Mrs.  Parsons,  accompanied 
by  Mr.  Holmes  and  myself,  went  to  the  jail  to  plead  for  a  last  sad 
interview.  She  was  denied  an  entrance,  but  was  told  by  the  deputy- 
sheriff  in  charge  that  she  would  be  admitted  at  half-past  eight  the  fol¬ 
lowing  morning.  At  that  time  she,  with  her  children  and  myself, 
was  promptly  as  near  to  the  gates  as  the  police  would  permit.  Every 
street  for  two  blocks  away  leading  towards  the  jail  was  crossed  by 
a  rope  and  guarded  by  a  line  of  police  armed  with  Winchester  rifles. 
At  the  first  corner  Mrs.  Parsons  quietly  made  known  her  errand. 
The  lieutenant  said  she  could  not  go  in  there,  but  that  she  should 
pass  on  to  the  next  corner,  and  the  officer  there  would  perhaps  let  her 
through. 


249 


250 


ARREST  OF  MRS.  PARSONS  AND  CHILDREN. 


She  did  so  with  the  same  result.  Another  captain  told  her  she 
must  get  an  order  from  the  sheriff ;  on  inquiring  where  he  could  be 
found,  she  was  told  to  go  on  to  another  corner  where  a  message  might 
be  sent  to  him.  At  this  corner  no  one  knew  anything  about  it  and 
again  we  were  sent  on ;  and  so,  for  more  than  an  hour  we  were  urged 
along  in  a  veritable  game  of  “Pussy  wants  a  corner”  that  would  have 
been  ridiculous  had  it  not  been  so  tragical.  Sometimes  it  was  a  dep¬ 
uty-sheriff  who  was  to  be  found  at  a  certain  corner,  sometimes  it  was 
the  peculiarity  of  location  that  promised  an  entrance  beyond  the 
death-line ;  but  it  was  always  “not  this  corner  but  some  other  cor¬ 
ner.”  Not  once  did  an  officer  say,  “You  positively  cannot  see  your 
husband.  You  are  forbidden  to  enter  his  prison  and  bid  him  fare¬ 
well,”  but  always  offered  the  inducement  that  if  she  passed  quietly 
along,  at  some  indefinite  point  she  would  be  admitted. 

Meanwhile  the  precious  moments  were  flying;  sweet  little  Lulu’s 
face  was  blue  with  cold,  and  her  beautiful  eyes  were  swimming  with 
tears.  Manly  little  Albert,  too,  was  shivering  in  the  raw  atmosphere, 
as  he  patiently  followed  his  grief-stricken  mother  from  one  warlike 
street  to  another. 

Then  Mrs.  Parsons  besought  the  officers  only  to  take  the  children 
in  for  their  father’s  last  blessing  and  farewell ;  for  one  last  interview 
that  his  memory  might  never  be  effaced  from  their  young  and  im¬ 
pressible  minds;  one  last  look  that  the  image  of  that  noble  father 
might  dwell  forever  in  their  heart  of  hearts ;  one  moment  in  which  to 
listen  to  the  last  dear  words  that  his  loving  and  prophetic  soul  might 
dictate  to  the  darling  children  left  to  live  after  him.  In  vain.  The 
one  humble  prayer  the  brave  woman  ever  voiced  to  the  authorities  in 
power  was  denied  her.  They  heeded  her  not  except  to  hurry  her 
along. 

The  last  sad  moments  of  her  dear  one’s  life  were  wasting  so  stead- 
ily,  so  relentlessly.  Who  can  picture  her  agony?  Who  can  wonder 
at  her  desperate  protest  against  the  “regulations  of  the  law”  which 
were  killing  her  husband  and  forbidding  her  approach.  She  deter¬ 
minedly  crossed  the  death  line  and  told  them  “to  kill  her  as  they 
were  murdering  her  husband.”  No,  they  were  not  so  merciful.  They 
dragged  her  around  to  a  quieter  corner,  with  the  promise  of  “seeing 


ARREST  OF  MRS.  PARSONS  AND  CHILDREN. 


251 


about  it,”  and  there  ordered  her,  her  two  children  and  myself  into  a 
patrol  wagon  awaiting  us.  What  had  the  innocent  children  done  ? 

Pleaded  dumbly  with  soft,  tearful  eyes  for  their  father.  What 
was  my  crime?  Faithfulness  to  a  sorrowing  sister. 

Once  when  some  one  asked  me  if  I  could  not  “prevail  on  that 
woman  to  keep  quiet  and  go  home,”  I  answered : 

“I  have  no  such  influence  over  her  and  would  not  exert  it  if  I 
had.  Do  you  wonder  that  she  is  nearly  distracted  with  grief  at  being 
driven  from  pillar  to  post  like  this,  when  in  one  short  hour  her  hus¬ 
band  will  be  dead?  She  has  not  seen  him  for  five  days,  and  now 
they  deny  her  the  sacred  right  of  a  last  good-bye ;  why,  the  worst 
despotisms  in  Europe  are  not  so  bad  as  that.” 

At  this  a  burly,  brutal-looking  detective  in  citizen’s  clothes  said : 

“See  here,  young  woman !  you  shut  up  or  we  will  send  you  off  in 
the  wagon !” 

“Must  I  not  even  say  this  much,  in  a  free  country  ?”  I  asked  in 
surprise. 

“No,  you  can’t,”  he  growled,  with  a  fierce  frown. 

And  this,  I  suppose,  constituted  “my  harangue  to  the  people  on 
the  streets.” 

And  so,  into  the  patrol  we  were  hustled,  a  heart-broken  wife  and 
mother,  two  .innocent  tearful  children,  and  the  one  friend  near  her. 
The  “polite”  officers  did  not  perhaps  go  out  of  their  way  to  be  brutal 
or  rough,  but  were  about  as  “courteous”  as  so  many  wooden  men 
moving  about  like  machines.  Far  from  being  given  arm  chairs  in  a 
comfortable  office,  we  were  locked  up  in  dark,  dirty  stone  cells — Mrs. 
Parsons  and  her  children  in  one,  myself  in  another. 

And  there — shame  be  it  to  America  that  I  have  it  to  relate !  there 
we  were  stripped  to  the  skin  and  searched !  even  the  children,  crying 
with  fright,  were  undressed  and  carefully  searched. 

No  excuse  could  be  offered  that  we  were  ignorant  foreigners  and 
did  not  understand  the  laws  of  the  country,  and  that  the  safety  of 
American  institutions  depended  on  our  being  totally  unarmed ;  for 
the  blood  of  revolutionary  forefathers  coursed  in  our  veins,  while  the 
matron  and  officers  who  gave  the  order  (if  there  be  any  merit  in 


252 


ARREST  OF  MRS.  PARSONS  AND  CHILDREN. 


being  born  in  one  country  rather  than  another)  had  not  been  here 
long  enough  to  speak  our  language  correctly. 

The  woman  ran  her  fingers  through  my  hair,  through  the  hems 
of  my  skirts,  the  gathers  of  my  undergarments,  even  to  my  stock¬ 
ings  ;  I  asked  her  “what  she  expected  to  find.” 

“I  don’t  know,”  she  simpered,  “this  is  my  duty.” 

She  clanged  the  doors  behind  her  finally  and  we  were  left  alone. 
We  could  hear  each  other's  voices  but  could  not  see  one  another.  And 
in  those  gloomy,  underground  cells  we  passed  those  terrible,  anxious 
hours  of  Friday,  Nov.  n,  1887. 

God  knows  her  lot  would  have  been  bitter  enough  in  her  own 
comfortable  home,  with  loving,  sympathizing  friends  at  her  side  to 
support  her  in  that  awful  time.  But  who  dare  dwell  upon  the 
reality — the  picture  of  that  devoted  wife  in  such  a  place  at  such  an 
hour? 

At  a  few  minutes  past  twelve  the  matron  came  and  said  coldly: 
“It  is  all  over,”  and  left  us. 

Not  a  soul  came  and  asked  the  bereaved  woman  if  they  could 
help  her  to  even  a  cup  of  cold  water.  And  I,  the  one  friend  near  her, 
could  only  sit  shivering  with  my  face  pressed  to  the  cruel  iron  bars, 
listening  to  her  low,  despairing  moans,  as  helpless  as  herself. 

Every  friend  who  called  to  inquire  after  our  whereabouts  and 
welfare  was  sent  away  without  any  information  arid  we  were  not  told 
that  anyone  had  been  to  see  us. 

Mr.  Holmes  came  as  early  as  he  received  word  that  we  had  been 
arrested,  and  was  not  only  denied  any  information,  but  was  roughly 
ordered  away  and  threatened  with  arrest  himself  “if  he  hung  around 
there.” 

At  three  o’clock  Capt.  Schaack  came  down  and  asked  how  long  we 
had  been  there,  hypocritically  expressed  sorrow  that  we  had  been 
locked  up,  and  opened  our  prison  doors.  They  had  done  their  worst 
and  Mrs.  Parsons  was  permitted  to  go  to  her  desolated  home. 

And  thus  it  was  that  while  organized  authority  was  judicially 
murdering  the  husband  and  strangling  “the  voice  of  the  people,”  the 


ARREST  OF  MRS.  PARSONS  AND  CHILDREN. 


253 


wife  and  children  were  locked  up  in  a  dungeon,  that  no  unpleasant 
scene  might  mar  the  smoothness  of  the  proceedings.  Where  is  there 
a  parallel  in  history?  Only  in  the  State  where  dying  men  are  for¬ 
bidden  to  speak  a  few  last  words  can  such  a  scene  be  possible. 

Lizzie  M.  Holmes. 


CHAPTER  V. 


CAPT.  BLACK’S  EULOGY  AT  THE  TOMB. 

Capt.  Black  ascended  the  platform  where  the  mourning  women 
stood.  He  motioned  for  silence,  and  said : 

“If  you  will  all  be  as  quiet  as  possible  many  of  you  may  be  able 
to  hear  what  may  be  said,  although  to  make  one’s  self  heard  by  all 
this  multitude,  who  have  come  hither  to-day,  the  common  people,  to 
pay  their  tribute  of  love  and  affection,  would  be  an  impossibility.  Let 
us  keep  silence  while  we  are  here  together. 

“Many  loved  truth  and  lavished  life’s  best  oil 
Amid  the  dust  of  books  to  find  her, 

Content  at  last  for  guerdon  of  their  toil 
With  the  cast  mantle  she  has  left  behind  her, 

Many  in  sad  faith  sought  her, 

Many  with  crossed  hands  sighed  for  her, 

But  these,  our  brothers,  fought  for  her, 

At  life’s  dear  peril  wrought  for  her, 

So  loved  her  that  they  died  for  her. 

Tasting  the  raptured  sweetness 
Of  her  divine  completeness, 

Their  higher  instincts  knew, 

Those  love  her  best  who  to  themselves  are  true, 

And  what  they  dared  to  dream  of,  dared  to  do. 

They  followed  her  and  found  her, 

Where  all  may  hope  to  find, 

Not  in  the  ashes  of  the  burnt-out  mind, 

But  beautiful  with  danger’s  sweetness  round  her, 

Where  faith  made  whole  with  deed, 

Breathes  its  awakening  breath 
Into  the  lifeless  creed. 

They  saw  her  plumed  and  mailed, 

With  sweet,  stern  face  unveiled, 

And  all  repaying  eyes  looked  proud  on  them  in  death. 


254 


CAPT.  BLACK'S  EULOGY  AT  THE  TOMB. 


255 


“And  what  is  truth  ?  Not  statements  of  lifeless  dogma,  not  words 
here  and  there  spoken,  that  echo  through  the  corridors  of  time,  but 
the  life  consecrated  loyally  to  the  conviction  of  duty,  to  the  service 
of  that  which  is  apprehended  as  the  highest,  and  noblest,  and  best ;  a 
life  that  is  thrown  into  the  service  of  humanity  and  not  withheld 
even  unto  death — this  is  truth.  Through  eighteen  centuries  there 
has  come  down  to  us  the  answer  of  that  lowly  but  glorious  one  of 
Nazareth,  to  the  question:  What  is  truth?  in  the  words,  I  am  the 
truth. 

“No  man  knows  the  truth  until  it  has  entered  into  his  being,  until 
it  has  taken  possession  of  him,  until  it  has  become  the  inspiration  of 
his  life  and  his  crown  in  death.  And  these  men,  even  their  enemies 
being  judges,  have  kept  loyal  to  the  conviction  that  entered  into  their 
lives  and  became  the  best  part  of  themselves. 

“Whatever  their  mistakes  of  judgment,  their  hearts  were  wrapped 
up  in  the  cause  of  the  common  people,  with  that  sublime  infatuation 
of  self-sacrifice  which  is  the  one  thing  that  lifts  our  humanity  up  to 
heights  where  sits  the  Eternal  Good. 

“I  am  not  here  this  afternoon,  dear  friends,  to  speak  to  you  any 
special  word  concerning  the'  cause  for  which  these  men  lived,  nor 
concerning  the  manner  of  their  taking  off ;  but  to  speak  to  you  rather 
of  themselves,  to  tell  you  their  love  for  the  cause  which  commanded 
their  services,  was  sealed  at  last  by  their  lives,  not  grudgingly,  but 
given  with  unstinted  measure  for  the  sake  of  those  they  loved.  You 
know,  many  of  you,  who  have  read  the  press,  how  grandly  they 
passed  out  of  this  life  that  is  seen  into  the  perfect  and  glorious  life 
that  is  beyond  the  reach  of  misjudgment,  of  resentment,  or  of  pain. 

“As  the  years  go1  by,  of  whose  record  the  story  of  their  services 
Avill  form  a  splendid  part,  they  will  come  to  be  better  known,  to  be 
loved,  to  be  revered.  I  am  not  here  to  talk  of  their  violent  end  as  of 
an  ignominious  death.  We  are  not  beside  the  caskets  of  felons  con¬ 
signed  to  an  inglorious  tomb.  We  are  here  by  the  bodies  of  men  who 
were  sublime  in  their  self-sacrifice,  and  for  whom  the  gibbet  assumed 
the  glory  of  a  cross.  They  moved  to  their  appointed  death  slow- 
paced  and  strong — no  faltering,  no  trembling,  no  turning  back.  Upon 


256  CAPT.  BLACK'S  EULOGY  AT  THE  TOMB. 

the  morning  of  that  fateful  day,  when  August  Spies  stood  already 
within  the  shadow  of  his  doom,  he  said  to  one  near  him,  holding  up 
his  hand  in  witness  of  the  fact : 

“This  hand  is  as  steady  as  when,  in  the  old  days, 

It  plucked  the  already  ripe  fruit  from  life’s  tree ; 

The  apple  that  weighted  the  bough  in  the  gold  days 
When  blazed  the  great  sun  of  promise  for  me. 

Yes,  perfectly  steady,  with  no  trace  of  trembling, 

Though  all  is  near  ready  to  meet  my  death  here ! 

Pray  observe !  There  is  nothing  remotely  resembling 
The  outward  expression  of  commonplace  fear. 

“To  such  men  death  had,  and  could  have,  no  terrors,  and  their 
execution,  which  was  self-immolation,  could  have  no  touch  of  shame. 
Whatever  else  may  be  said  of  these  dead,  it  will  not  be  denied  that 
they  were  loyal  and  true  to  the  convictions  which  had  taken  captive, 
years  ago,  their  hearts,  and  to  what  they  believed  to  be  the  welfare 
of  the  people,  whom  they  loved. 

“I  must  not  keep  you  long,  and  yet  there  is  one  thing  that  I 
specially  want  to  say,  because  doubtless  in  this  great  throng  there 
stand  many  who  misapprehended  their  position  and  their  views.  They 
were  called  Anarchists.  They  were  painted  and  presented  to  the 
world  as  men  loving  violence,  riot,  and  bloodshed  for  their  own 
sake  ;  as  men  full  of  an  unextinguishable  and  causeless  hatred  against 
existing  order.  Nothing  could  be  further  from  the  truth.  They 
were  men  who  loved  peace,  men  of  gentle  instincts,  men  of  gracious 
tenderness  of  heart,  loved  by  those  who  knew  them,  trusted  by  those 
who  came  to  understand  the  loyalty  and  purity  of  their  lives.  And 
the  Anarchy  of  which  they  spoke  and  taught — what  was  it,  but  an  at¬ 
tempt  to  answer  the  question,  “After  the  revolution,  what?”  They 
believed — ah !  I  would  that  there  were  no  grounds  for  this  belief — 
that  there  was  that  of  wrong  and  hardship  in  the  existing  order 
which  pointed  to  conflict,  because  they  believed  that  greed  and  selfish¬ 
ness  would  not  surrender,  of  their  own  volition,  unto  righteousness. 
But  their  creed  had  to  do  with  the  to-morrow  of  the  possible  revolu¬ 
tion,  and  the  whole  of  their  thought  and  their  philosophy,  as  Anar- 


CAPT.  BLACK'S  EULOGY  AT  THE  TOMB. 


257 


chists,  was  the  establishment  of  an  order  of  society  that  should  be 
symbolized  in  the  words,  ‘order  without  forced  Is  it  practicable  ?  I 
know  not. 

“I  know  that  it  is  not  practical  now ;  but  I  know  also  that  through 
the  ages  poets,  philosophers,  and  Christians,  under  the  inspiration  of 
love  and  beneficence,  have  thought  of  the  day  to  come  when  right¬ 
eousness  shall  reign  in  the  earth,  and  when  sin  and  selfishness  should 
come  to  an  end.  We  look  forward  to  that  day,  we  hope  for  it,  we 
wait  for  it ;  and  with  such  a  hope  in  our  hearts  can  we  not  bring  the 
judgment  of  charity  to  bear  upon  any  mistakes  of  policy  or  action 
that  may  have  been  made  by  any  of  those  who,  acknowledging  the 
sublime  and  glorious  hope  in  their  hearts,  have  rushed  forward  to 
meet  it? 

“We  are  not  here  this  afternoon  to  weep,  we  are  not  here  to 
mourn  over  our  dead.  We  are  here  to  pay,  by  our  presence  and  our 
words,  the  tribute  of  our  appreciation  and  the  witness  of  our  love. 
For  I  loved  these  men.  I  knew  them  not  until  I  came  to  know  them 
in  the  time  of  their  sore  travail  and  anguish.  As  months  went  by, 
and  I  found  in  the  lives  of  these  with  whom  I  talked  the  witness  of 
their  love  for  the  people,  of  their  patience,  gentleness,  and  courage, 
my  heart  was  taken  captive  in  their  cause.  If  any  of  you  feel  that 
the  tears  are  coming,  listen  to  the  last  words  spoken  by  one  of  these 
(Parsons),  our  dead,  on  that  morning  before  their  execution : 

“Come  not  to  my  grave  with  your  mournings, 

With  your  lamentations  and  tears, 

With  your  sad  forebodings  and  fears! 

When  my  lips  are  dumb 
Do  not  thus  come. 

Bring  no  long  train  of  carriages, 

No  hearse  crowned  with  waving  plumes, 

Which  the  gaunt  glory  of  death  illumes ; 

But  with  my  hands  on  my  breast 
Let  me  rest. 

Insult  not  my  dust  with  your  pity, 

Ye  who’re  left  on  this  desolate  shore 


CAPT.  BLACK'S  EULOGY  AT  THE  TOMB. 


Still  to  suffer  and  lose  and  deplore. 

’Tis  I  should,  as  I  do, 

Pity  you. 

For  me  no  more  are  the  hardships, 

The  bitterness,  heartaches,  and  strife, 

The  sadness  and  sorrow  of  life, 

But  the  glory  divine — 

This  is  mine. 

Poor  creatures  !  Afraid  of  the  darkness, 

Who  groan  at  the  anguish  to  come. 

How  silent  I  go  to  my  home ! 

Cease  your  sorrowful  bell- — 

I  am  well. 

“It  has  been  said  that  these  men  knew  no  religion.  I  repel  the 
charge.  I  know  but  one  religion,  the  religion  which  seeks  to  mani¬ 
fest  itself — its  service  of  God  or  of  the  Supreme  Good — by  its  service 
these,  our  dead,  while  within  the  very  gloom  of  approaching  death, 
gave  us  these  words :  ‘My  religion  is  this,  to  live  right ;  to  do  right 
is  to  live  right,  and  the  service  of  humanity  is  my  worship  of  God.’ 

“I  remember  that  back  in  the  centuries  it  was  written  in  words 
that  shall  never  perish :  ‘He  that  doeth  righteousness  is  righteous, 
even  as  He  is  righteous.’ 

“There  is  no  worthy  conception  possible  to  humanity  of  that 
which  we  call  God,  other  than  the  conception  which  sets  our  life 
aflame  in  the  service  of  our  fellow-men. 

“But  I  must  not  keep  you.  There  is  no  need  to  multiply  words  in 
such  a  presence  as  this.  There  are  times  when  silence  is  more  terri¬ 
ble  than  speech.  When  men,  moving  to  the  supreme  issue  of  life, 
can  say,  standing  with  one  foot  on  earth  and  the  other  upon  the  shore 
of  the  unknown,  in  a  sublime  burst  of  enthusiasm :  ‘This  is  the 
happiest  moment  of  my  life.’  When  men,  even  in  that  hour,  can 
cheer  for  the  cause  to  which  they  have  given  their  lives ;  when,  for¬ 
getting  themselves,  they  can  speak  of  ‘the  voice  of  the  people,’  until 
utterance  is  silent  forever.  And  what  need  is  there,  standing  by  the 
bodies  of  such  men,  to  multiply  words  ? 


CAPT.  BLACK  S  EULOGY  AT  THE  TOMB. 


259 


“Yet  let  me  read  to  you  a  poem  handed  to  me  on  the  train  as  1 
came  hither,  written  by  I  know  not  whom,  but  by  some  one  whose 
breast  was  full  of  love,  and  whose  brain  could  catch  the  inspiration  of 
such  a  death  as  was  theirs  in  whose  memory  we  are  here.  Give  me 
your  hearts  as  I  read : 

“Under  the  cruel  tree, 

Planted  by  tyranny, 

Grown  in  barbarity, 

Fostered  by  wrong ; 

With  stately,  soldier  pace, 

With  simple,  manly  grace, 

Each  hero  took  his  place, 

Steady  and  strong. 

Wearing  their  robes  of  white, 

As  saints  or  martyrs  might, 

Calmly,  in  conscious  right, 

Faced  they  the  world. 

While  on  each  face  upturned 
Sternly  their  sad  eyes  burned 
Reproach,  for  blame  unearned 
Hatred  had  hurled. 

Hatred,  dull-eared  and  blind, 

Hatred,  of  unsound  mind, 

Hatred,  which  gropes  to  find 
That  which  is  worst ! 

How  could  it  judge  a  heart, 

Where  wrong  and  suffering  start 
The  throbbing  valves  apart, 

E’en  till  the}7  burst? 

How  could  it  hear  the  call, 

Through  life’s  grim  silence  fall, 

Sounding  to  waken  all 

Those  souls  who  sleep? 

How  could  it  see  the  height? 

That  to  those  eyes  was  bright 
Where,  as  a  sun,  in  might, 

Freedom  shall  sweep? 


26o 


CAPT.  BLACK'S  EULOGY  AT  THE  TOMB. 


Not  for  the  hearts  that  bled, 

Not  for  the  bride  unwed, 

Children  and  wives  unfed, 

Should  our  tears  flow ; 

But  for  the  palsied  brains, 

But  for  the  stagnant  veins, 

For  the  greed  that  sucks  its  gains 
For  human  woe. 

One  with  a  gentle  word, 

One  with  a  sob  unheard 
Of  warning  love;  a  third 
With  triumph  cry 
Meeting  the  rope’s  embrace — 

Of  gallows’  old  disgraced, 

Making  a  holy  place; 

Thus  did  they  die. 

And  when,  in  later  days, 

Bards  all  sing  lofty  lays, 

In  freedom’s  makers’  praise, 

Their  names  shall  live; 

And  hearts  which  cannot  sing 
Shall  the  pure  incense  swing 
Of  love,  that  all  may  bring, 

That  each  will  give.” 

Other  speeches  were  made  on  this  occasion  by  Robert  Reitzel,  of 
Detroit,  Michigan,  Paul  Grottkau  and  T.  J.  Morgan. 


BENJAMIN  F.  BUTLER’S  LETTER  TO  CAPT.  BLACK. 


Boston,  Mass.,  February  14,  1888. 

My  Dear  Capt.  Black  : 

I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you  for  your  letter,  and  I  am  also 
thankful  for  the  receipt  of  your  argument  to  the  jury  in  the  case  of 
Spies  et  al or  what  will  be  known  in  the  long  history  as  the  “Anar¬ 
chist  case.” 

Our  pleasant  acquaintance  under  the  most  unpleasant  circum¬ 
stances,  the  joint  unsuccessful  advocacy  of  life  for  men  who  were  un¬ 
lawfully  convicted  and  unwisely  executed,  has  given  me  an  insight 
into  your  purpose  and  character,  and  will  make  our  friendship  a 
lasting  one,  at  least  on  my  side. 

I  had  not  believed  it  possible  that  palpable  judicial  murders  could 
again  prevail  in  this  country.  They  once  did,  in  what  we  have  been 
accustomed  to  regard  as  the  best  and  purest  days  of  the  colonies.  It 
is  less  than  two  centuries  since  seven  men  of  the  highest  standing,  a 
majority  of  whom  were  reverend  gentlemen,  clergymen,  as  good  and 
pious  men  as  ever  lived,  as  exemplary  in  every  relation  of  life  as  it 
was  possible  for  men  to  be,  sat  in  a  so-called  Court  of  justice,  each 
morning  session  whereof  was  opened  with  fervent  prayer  to  the  di¬ 
vine  source  of  all  knowledge,  grace,  and  power,  to  direct  the  actions 
of  his  servants  as  the  Judges  of  that  Court ;  and  in  that  Court  were 
arraigned,  day  after  day,  poor,  miserable,  broken  down,  superstitious 
women  and  children,  upon  the  accusation  that  they  had  commerce 
with  the  devil,  and  used  his  power  as  a  means  of  inflicting  torture, 
because  thereof  the  devil  had  empowered  these  poor  creatures  to 
shoot  common  house  pins  from  a  distance  into  the  flesh  of  their 
neighbors’  children,  by  which  they  were  greatly  afflicted.  Being  put 
to  the  bar  to  be  tried,  they  were  not  allowed  counsel,  and,  thank  God, 
our  profession  was  not  disgraced,  because  the  Attorney-General  was 
a  merchant.  The  deluded  creatures  sometimes  pleaded  guilty,  and 
sometimes  not  guilty,  but  in  either  event  they  were  found  guilty  and 


261 


262 


BENJ.  F.  BUTLER’S  LETTER. 


executed,  and  the  pins,  which  were  produced  in  evidence,  can  now  be 
seen  among  the  records  of  that  Court,  in  the  court-house  of  the  county 
of  Essex,  Massachusetts. 

And  beyond  all  this  that  Court  enforced,  worse  than  the  tortures 
of  the  Inquisition,  dreadful  wrongs  upon  a  prisoner  in  order  to  ac¬ 
complish  his  conviction.  Giles  Corey  was  an  old  man,  80  years  of 
age.  He  had  a  daughter,  some  40  years  of  age,  simple-minded,  not 
able  to  earn  her  own  living,  and  a  small  farm,  a  piece  of  land  and  a 
house  thereon,  which  he  hoped  to  leave  to  his  daughter  at  his  then  im¬ 
pending  death.  Giles  was  accused  of  being  a  wizard.  His  life  had 
been  blameless  in  everything  except  his  supposed  commerce  with  the 
devil.  Upon  ex  parte  testimony  he  was  indicted  for  this  too  great 
intimacy  with  the  evil  one,  and  sent  to  the  bar  to  be  tried  for  his  life. 

Giles  knew  that  if  he  pleaded  not  guilty  he  was  sure  to  be  con¬ 
victed,  because  that  was  the  doom  of  the  Anarchists  of  that  day ;  and 
if  he  pleaded  guilty  he  would  be  sentenced  to  death,  and  in  either  case 
the  farm  would  be  forfeited  to  the  King.  But  if  he  did  not  plead 
at  all — such  was  the  law — then  he  could  not  be  tried  at  all,  and 
his  property  could  not  be  forfeited  to  the  King  and  taken  from  his 
daughter.  So  Giles  stood  mute  and  put  the  Court  at  defiance. 

And  then  that  Court  of  pious  clergymen  resorted  to  a  method 
to  make  him  plead  which  had  not  been  in  practice  in  England  for  200 
years,  and  never  here,  and  poor  Giles  was  taken  and  laid  on  the 
ground  by  the  side  of  the  court-house,  on  his  back,  with  the  flashing 
sun  burning  in  his  eyes,  and  a  single  cup  of  water  from  the  ditch  of 
the  jail,  with  a  crust  of  bread,  was  given  him  every  twenty-four 
hours,  and  weights  were  placed  upon  his  body,  until  at  last  the  life 
was  crushed  out  of  him,  but  not  the  father’s  love  for  his  child.  He 
died,  but  not  until  his  parched  tongue  protruded  from  the  old  man’s 
fevered  mouth.  It  was  thrust  back  by  the  Chief  Justice  with  his  cane. 
The  cherished  daughter  inherited. 

Being  fully  imbued  with  this  knowledge  of  what  good  men  will 
do  when  they  are  either  frightened  for  their  souls  or  their  bodies,  it 
has  not  been  to  me  a  source  of  so  much  wonder  as  it  might  other¬ 
wise  have  been,  how  the  law  was  administered  in  frenzy  in  Chicago. 
Years  hence,  when  you  and  I  have  passed  away,  the  case  of  Giles 


BENJ.  F.  BUTLER'S  LETTER. 


263 


Corey  and  the  witches,  and  the  case  of  the  Anarchists,  will  be  com¬ 
pared  by  just-minded  men  more  than  they  are  now.  I  hope  there 
may  be  one  fact  follow  in  the  Anarchists’  cases  that  followed  in  the 
witches’  cases :  Judge  Sewall,  a  reverend  clergyman,  and  one  of  the 
Judges, of  the  witches,  before  he  died  learned  how  deeply  he  had  erred 
and  sinned  before  God,  and  he  repented  in  sack-cloth  and  ashes,  lit¬ 
erally  coming  out  in  the  face  of  his  congregation  and  standing  in  the 
broad  aisle  of  the  church  exclaiming,  while  his  written  confession  of 
his  sins  and  folly  in  the  witches’  case  was  being  read :  “Alas !  God 
have  mercy  on  me  for  what  I  have  done !” 

I  hope  you  will  live  to  be  present  when  one  of  the  Judges  before 
whom  you  argued  will  find  it  his  duty  to  take  a  like  step ;  but  I  fear 
that,  while  he  has  had  the  incredible  folly  of  Judge  Sewall  in  the 
treatment  of  his  prisoners,  he  won’t  have  the  piety  of  Sewall  in  pub¬ 
licly  appealing  to  his  God  for  mercy,  as  an  example  against  all  others 
offending  in  a  like  manner. 

A  learned  and  upright  Judge,  writing  the  judicial  history  of 
witchcraft  in  this  country,  sums  up  as  follows : 

If  the  popular  cry  is  to  be  the  standard  of  what  is  right,  the  security  of 
property  is  at  an  end,  personal  liberty  is  no  longer  safe,  and  the  blood  of  the 
innocent  will  often  seal  the  triumph  of  a  popular  administration  of  justice  in 
the  triumph  of  popular  vengeance. 

Some  later  writer  on  judicial  proceedings,  comparing  the  judicial 
murder  of  the  witches  with  the  trial  of  the  Anarchists,  will  close  by 
saying:  “Alas!  how  surely,  from  age  to  age,  doth  history  repeat 
herself.” 

One  further  fact,  which  I  send  to  you  for  your  comfort :  The  de¬ 
termined  action  of  a  single  member  of  our  profession,  standing  up 
against  this  witchcraft  craze,  brought  it  to  an  end.  I  look  for  like 
fruits  to  come  from  what  you  have  done. 

Renewing  my  assurance  of  kindest  regard,  I  am,  very  truly,  your 
friend  and  servant, 

Benjamin  F.  Butler. 


end. 


August  Vincenz  Theodor 


Spies 


APPENDIX 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  AUGUST  SPIES. 

WRITTEN  IN  COOK  COUNTY  JAIL  IN  THE  SUMMER  OF  l886  WHILE  AWAITING  THE 

EXECUTION  OF  THE  DEATH  SENTENCE. 

“ . Barbarians,  savages,  illiterate,  ignorant  Anarchists  from  Central 

Europe,  men  who  cannot  comprehend  the  spirit  of  our  free  American  insti¬ 
tutions,”*  of  these  I  am  one.  My  name  is  August  Vincent  Theodore  Spies, 
(pronounced  Spees).  I  was  born  within  the  ruins  of  the  old  robbers’  castle 
Landeck,  upon  a  high  mountain’s  peak  (Landeckerberg),  Central  Germany, 
December  io,  ’55.  My  father  was  a  forester  (a  government  administrator 
of  a  forest  district)  ;  the  forest  house  was  a  government  building,  and 
seryed — only  in  a  different  form — the  same  purposes  the  old  castle  had 
served  several  centuries  before.  The  noble  Knighthood  of  highway  robbery, 
the  traces  of  which  were  still  discernible  in  the  remnants  of  the  old  castle, 
had  passed  away  to  make  room  for  more  genteel  and  less  dangerous  forms  of 
plunder  and  robbery,  such  as  are  carried  on  in  the  modern  dwelling  under 
the  present  government.  But  while  the  people  from  old  custom  designate 
this  and  similar  ruins  in  the  vicinity  as  “old  Robber  Castles,”  they  speak  with 
great  deference  of  the  present  government  buildings,  in  which  they  them¬ 
selves  are  daily  and  hourly  fleeced ;  they  would  even,  I  believe,  fight  for  the 
maintenance  of  these  lawful  institutions. 

How  greatly  these  “Barbarians”  differ  from  the  intelligent  American  peo¬ 
ple!  Tell  the  Americans  to  fight  for  the  maintenance  of  our  commercial  rob¬ 
bing  posts  and  fleecing  institutions — tell  them  to  fight  for  the  protection  of 
the  lawful  enterprises  of  our  Board  of  Trade  men,  Merchant  princes,  Rail¬ 
road  kings,  and  Factory  lords — would  they  do  it?  Deplorable  as  the  fact 
must  seem: — they  would !  even  more  readily,  I  fear,  than  those  “barbarians 
from  Central  Europe.”  The  American  people  in  their  vast  majority  are  ig¬ 
norant  of  the  great  truth  that  is  embodied  in  these  words  of  a  celebrated  phil¬ 
osopher  and  poet : 

“What  from  your  fathers  came  to  you  as  an  inheritance — 

You  must  acquire  it,  if  you  would  possess  it!” — 


*Quotation  from  Grinneirs  speech  to  the  jury. 

265 


266 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  AUGUST  SPIES. 


Viewed  from  a  historic  standpoint  my  birthplace  is  quite  an  interesting 
spot.  And  this  is  the  only  excuse  I  can  offer  for  the  selection  of  the  place 
for  said  purpose.  I  admit  I  ought  not  have  made  the  mistake,  ought  not 
have  been  born  a  foreigner.  Probably,  I  might  have  avoided  the  fatal  mistake, 
had  I  prior  to  my  entry  upon  the  stage  of  life  possessed  the  requisite  power 
of  divination.  I  might  then  have  known  that  I  was  about  to  commit  a  mon¬ 
strous  crime — a  crime,  punishable  by  death  30  years  hence  in  Chicago.  I 
should  then  have  known  that  the  Christian  God  in  his  sublime  wisdom  had 
under  a  recent  enactment  arranged  matters  so,  that  all  good  people  were  now 

born  in  America  under  the  protective  tariff  of  the  “United  Monopolies” . . 

But  unaware  and  unconscious  of  the  dangerous  enterprise  I  was  aboyt  to  enter 
upon,  “I  popped  up  serenely”  and  unsuspectingly,  as  it  were.  I  do  not  offer 
this  as  a  mitigating  circumstance,  and  find  no  fault  with  such  wise  and  intelli¬ 
gent  men  as  Mr.  Grinnell  and  His  jury,  for  hanging  miscreants  who  have 
so  little  judgment  in  the  selection  of  their  birthplace.*  Society  must  protect 
itself  against  offenses  of  this  kind. 

But  speaking  of  castle  Landeck.  Follow  me  there,  reader,  on  a  bright 
and  clear  day.  We  make  our  way  up  the  old  tower.  Take  care,  or  you  will 
stumble  over  the  debris.  That?  Oh,  that  is  a  piece  of  an  old  torture  rack; 
we  found  it  in  one  of  the  subterranean  walks,  together  with  several  pieces  of 

old  ugly  weapons,  once  used  to  maintain  order  among  the  victims . .but 

why  do  you  shudder?  The  policeman’s  outfit  of  to-day  is  not  quite  so  blunt 

and  barbaric,  it  is  true,  but  it  is  as  effective  and  serves  the  same  purpose . 

So,  now,  take  my  hand,  I’ll  help  you  on  top  of  the  ruin.  Look  out  for  the 
bats.  These  winged  lovers  of  darkness  have  great  resemblance  with  kings, 
priests  and  masters  in  general ;  they  dwell  in  the  ruins  of  the  “good  old 
times,”  and  become  quite  noisy  when  you  disturb  them  or  expose  them  to 
the  light ;  adders,  too,  made  this  place  their  favorable  habitation  in  former 
years  and  rendered  it  very  dangerous  for  any  one  to  place  his  sacrilegious 
foot  upon  this  feudal  monument ;  we  killed  them.  They  were  the  companions 
of  the  bats  and  owls ;  their  fate  has  given  the  latter  much  uneasiness,  and 
fears  were  entertained  that  something  terrible  would  happen — that  the  ghosts 
of  the  old  “noble  knights”  and  “noble  dames”  would  come  back  and  avenge  the 
ruthless  annihilation  of  the  venerable  reptiles,  but  nothing  of  the  kind  has 
transpired.  I  need  hardly  add  that  the  work  of  renovation  was  greatly  im¬ 
peded  by  these  venomous  creatures ;  since  their  extermination  we  have  made 

remarkable  progress .  You  smile!  Oh,  no,  I  am  not  speaking  of  those 

other  reptiles  you  think  of.  No,  no !  But  here,  we  have  reached  the  top. 
Great  view,  is  it  not?  Over  there,  about  thirty  minutes’  walk  from  here 
(west)  you  see  another  ruin  like  this;  that  is  castle  Dreieck,  and  over  there,  an 
equal  distance  (southwest),  you  see  another  one,  Wildeck.  And  now  look 


*Mr.  Grinnell’s  principal  argument  upon  which  he  demanded  a  conviction  for 
murder  was  that  the  accused  were  “foreigners.” 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  AUGUST  SPIES. 


267 


down  in  the  fertile  valleys,  the  beautiful  meadows  and  fields  and  flourishing 
villages !  Of  the  latter  you  can  count  a  dozen,  all  located  around  this  mount ; 
and  do  you  know  that  all  these  villages,  and  some  others  which  have  been  laid 
waste  during  the  thirty  ^years’  war,  were  tributary  to  the  robbers  who  ruled 
over  them  in  these  three  castles?  Yes,  the  people  in  these  villages  toiled  all 
their  lives  from  early  dawn  till  late  at  night  to  fill  the  vaults  of  those  noble 
knights,  who  in  return  had  the  kindness  to  maintain  “peace  and  order”  for 
them.  Par  exemple :  If  one  of  these  toiling  peasants  expressed  his  dissatisfac¬ 
tion  of  the  existing  order  of  things,  if  he  complained  of  the  heavy  and  unbear¬ 
able  tasks  placed  upon  him,  “law  and  order”  demanded  that  he  be  placed  upon 
one  of  those  racks  you  have  seen  a  relic  of,  to  be  tortured  into  obedience  and 
submission.  “Society  had  to  protect  itself  against  this  class  of  criminals !” 
The  noble  knights  had  their  Grinnells,  Bonfields  and  Pinkertons  as  well  as 
their  descendants  have  them  to-day ;  and  while  they  were  less  civilized  than 
their  descendants  of  our  time,  they  got  along  wonderfully  well.  To  accom¬ 
plish  their  beneficent  objects,  they  did  not  even  require  the  assistance  of  a 
Chicago'  “gentlemen  jury” . 

Many  of  the  peasants  were  put  to  an  ignominous  death.  Some  of  them 
would  persist  in  their  folly  that  it  could  not  be  the  object  of  society  nor  the 
intention  of  Providence  to  have  a  thousand  good  people  kill  themselves  in  a 
laborious  life  for  the  glory,  enrichment  and  grandeur  of  a  few  ungrateful, 
vicious  wretches.  Such  dangerous  teachings  were  a  menace  to  society,  and 
their  promulgators  were  unceremoniously  stamped  out. 

Not  more  than  200  feet  from  where  we  stand  there  is  a  perpendicular  hole 
(chasm)  of  volcanic  origin;  it  is  about  8  feet  in  length  and  3  feet  in  breadth; 
its  depth  has  never  been  ascertained.  The  saying  goes  that  scores  of  girls 
were  cast  into  this  terrible  abyss  by  the  valiant  Knights  during  their  reign  of 
peace  and  good  order !  It  is  said  that  these  benevolent  “respectables”  of  an¬ 
cient  times  kidnapped  the  pretty  girls  of  the  villages,  carried  them  like  birds 
of  prey  to  their  lofty  abodes,  and  then  when  they  got  tired  of  them,  or  found 
“something  better,”  disposed  of  them  in  this  way.  . 

Oh,  I  see,  you  shake  your  head  incredulously!  Have  you  never  seen  the 
dumping  grounds  of  the  modern  Knighthood  in  our  large  cities — a  similar 
abyss?  No?  It  is  more  frightful  than  the  one  I  have  told  you  about;  its 
name  is  prostitution . 

You  don’t  believe  the  people  would  have  borne  all  these  outrages — ?  My 
friend,  your  rebellious  spirit  carries  you  away.  The  “orderly  and  good  peo¬ 
ple”  suffered  these  atrocities  just  as  silently  as  our  “law  and  order  abiding 
workingmen”  abide  them  to-day.  I  told  you  what  happened  to  those  who 
showed  resistance ! 

My  words  make  you  sad,  turn  you  pessimistic?  Let  me  show  you  some¬ 
thing  else.  Look  through  between  these  two  mounts ;  can  you  see  a  tower  in 
the  dim  distance — yes?  At  the  side  of  this  tower  are  yet  to  be  seen  the  ruins 


268 


autobiography  of  august  spies. 


of  the  first  chapel  built  in  the  realms  of  the  old  heathen,  but  free  and  liberty- 
loving  Germans.  It  was  founded  by  one  of  the  apostles  of  St.  Boniface,  in 
the  eighth  century ;  his  name  was  Lullus.  With  this  chapel  and  others  that 
soon  followed  the  poison  of  Oriental  servilism,  the  gospel  of  man’s  degrada¬ 
tion,  resignation  and  asceticism  was  first  introduced.  The  old  Chcrusker  and 
Katten,  who  had  in  mortal  combat  thrust  the  Roman  eagle  to  the  ground, 
were  less  successful  in  resisting  the  mind-infecting  poison  of  pestilential  Rome ; 
it  came  flowing  in  incessantly  through  the  channels  of  the  Christian  church. 
It  is  true,  the  healthy  and  robust  Germans  were  not  an  easy  prey  to  the  pessi¬ 
mistic  belief  of  a  debauched  and  dying  race  (Rome) — they  never  have  been 
good  Christians — but  they  became  sufficiently  infected  to  lose  their  conscious¬ 
ness  and  pride  of  manhood  for  a  while,  to  fall  into  the  despairing  vagaries  of 
the  Orient,  and  as  a  natural  consequence  into  serfdom.  If  life  had  no  value, 

why  then  aspire  to  liberty . ?  Friend,  the  ruin  of  yonder  chapel 

is  the  monument  of  an  epoch  that  gave  birth  to  such  robberburgs  as  the  one 
we  stand  upon.  The  people  would  have  razed  these  roosts  to  the  ground  long 
before  they  did,  if  the  priest  had  not  stood  between  them  and  “Law  and  Or¬ 
der.”  The  priest  is  an  essential  indivisible  part  of  the  despot  and  oppressor; 
he  is  the  conciliatory  link  between  them  and  their  victims . 

These  two  ruins,  once  sacred  as  the  pedestals  of  social  order,  are  pro¬ 
phetic  monuments.  Man  will  so  stand  upon  the  ruins  of  the  present  order 
and  will  say  as  you  say  now — “was  it  possible.  .  .  .  !” 

But  now  turn  around — along  this  mountain  chain,  northeast,  there,  where 
the  earth  dips  mistily  into  the  horizon,  the  periphery  of  our  view — do  you  see 
yonder  gray  spot,  it  looks  like  a  small  cloud?  Yes?  That’s  the  Wartburg, 
you  have  heard  of  the  Wartburg.  It  was  here,  where  Dr.  Martinus  Luther 
lived  and  worked,  an  instrument  of  the  revolutionary  forces ;  the  revolution¬ 
ary  forces,  my  friend,  that  gradually  had  developed  in'  these  villages. 

It  is  our  custom  to  attribute  great  movements  to  single  individuals,  as 
being  their  merit.  This  is  always  wrong,  and  it  was  so  with  Luther.  The 
Germanic  race  could  not  digest  the  Byzantinian  philosophy,  as  embodied  in 
the  Judaic  and  Christian  teachings.  The  idea  that  this  world  was  calculated 
to  be  simply  a  purgatory  and  our  life  a  martyrdom  was  repulsive  to  the  com¬ 
mon  sense  of  the  merry  Germans,  and  what  made  it  still  more  repulsive  to 
them  was ;  that  servitude  and  despotism  were  growing  from  the  seed  of  the 
new  religion  and  developing,  where  once  had  been  the  habitation  of  liberty; 
developing  at  such  a  rate,  that  patience  ceased  to  be  a  virtue.  The  rebellious 
spirit  of  the  people,  their  animosity  to  the  doctrine  of  self-abnegation,  imposed 
upon  them  by  the  church,  had  been  successfully  calmed  and  suppressed  by  the 
priests  for  several  centuries.  But  as  the  iniquities  of  the  “nobility”  and  the 
domestic  burdens  of  the  people  grew  unbearable,  this  spirit  burst  out  in  flames, 
and  in  Luther  found  a  crystallization  point.  From  the  Wartburg  then  the 
mighty  wave  of  the  reformation  rolled  forth.  It  was  the  Occident  struggling 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  AUGUST  SPIES. 


269 


ill  self-preservation  against  the  Orient.  The  love  of  liberty  which  had  been 
lying  spellbound  in  the  people’s  heart  for  generations,  now  flowed  out  in  lucid 

streams ;  the  magic  spell  was  broken . But  the  “nobility,”  while 

seeking  liberation  from  the  despotism  of  the  Roman  Church,  they  liked  the 
privileges  the  latter  had  given  them ;  the  idea  of  the  common  people  aspiring 
to  economic  freedom.  Was  not  “spiritual  liberty,”  a  change  of  certain  relig¬ 
ious  notions,  enough  for  any  common  man?  Luther  soon  became  the  tool  of 
these  cheating  knaves,  and  wielded  his  pen  in  condemnation  of  the  objects 
contended  for  by  the  people.  He  denounced  the  true  and  brave  leaders  of 
the  people,  the  fearless  Thomas  Muenzer  and  his  associates,  worse  than  the 
Pope  had  denounced  him  shortly  before.  And  when  the  liberty-thirsty  people 
finally  took  up  their  scythes  and  axes  and  forks,  and  drove  the  “noble 
Knights”  from  their  robbers’  roosts,  it  was  Luther  who  brought  about  a  con¬ 
spiracy  of  the  latter  against  the  people . It  is  characteristic  that 

now  all  religious  differences  were  set  aside  and  all  petty  tyrants  combined  to 
subdue  the  people.  Papist  or  Lutheran,  all  were  instantly  united  in  the  cru¬ 
sade  against  labor.  (America  at  this  time  presents  an  analogous  spectacle; 
Republicans  and  Democrats  “embrace  each  other  as  Nectar  and  Ambrosia,” 
wherever  labor  rises  for  emancipation.) 

Of  course,  the  people  were  conspirators  and  incendiaries.  Hear  what 
Thomas  Muenzer  said :  “Look  you,  the  sediment  of  the  soup  of  usury,  theft 
and  robbery  are  the  Great,  the  masters ;  they  take  all  creatures  as  their  prop¬ 
erty — the  fish  in  the  water,  the  birds  in  the  air,  and  the  vegetation  of  the 
earth.  And  then  they  preach  God’s  commandment  to  the  poor :  ‘Thou  shalt 
not  steal.’  But  this  is  not  for  themselves.  They  bone  and  scrape  the  poor 
farmer  and  mechanic  until  these  have  nothing  left ;  then,  when  the  latter  put 
their  hands  on  the  sacred  things,  they  are  hanged.  And  Doctor  Liar  says 
Amen !  The  masters  do  it  themselves,  that  the  poor  man  hates  them.  The 
cause  of  the  rebellion  they  won’t  abolish,  how  then  can  things  change  to  the 
better.  As  I  say  this,  I  am  an  incendiary — let  it  be  so !” 

No,  these  words  were  not  spoken  in  Judge  Gary’s  court !  You  make  a  mis¬ 
take,  reader,  the  language  is  not  modern,  it’s  400  years  old . And  the 

man  who  used  it  was  in  the  right.  He  interpreted  the  Gospel,  saying  that  it 
did  not  merely  promise  blessings  in  heaven,  but  that  it  also  commanded  the 
equality  and  brotherhood  among  men  on  earth.  The  champions  of  law  and 
order  and  Christendom  chopped  his  head  off. 

The  rebels  were  victorious  at  first,  but  against  the  united  vassals  of  their 
oppressors  they  could  not  stand.  At  the  foot  of  this  mount  they  were  de¬ 
feated,  down  there,  where  you  see  that  big  rock,  surrounded  by  magnificent 

oaks,  the  battle  for  freedom  was  fought  and,  alas,  lost . No,  it 

was  not  lost,  it  was  merely  interceded  by  a  temporary  victory  of  the  enemy. 

The  spirit  of  the  Reformation  was  the  “eternal  spirit  of  the  chainless 


270 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  AUGUST  SPIES. 


mind,”  and  nothing  could  stay  its  progress.  Gibbets,  stakes,  tortures  and  dun¬ 
geons  were  of  no  avail.  On  the  contrary,  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  only  inten¬ 
sified  the  flame  of  liberty,  until  it  sprang  from  land  to  land,  kindling  every¬ 
where  the  discontent  of  the  oppressed  in  its  irresistible  triumphant  course. 

These  ruins  still  bear  evidence  of  its  tremendous  force !  The  most  mo¬ 
mentous  thing  accomplished  by  this  rebellious  and  lawless  spirit,  however, 
was  the  opening  of  the  new  world.  The  reformation  gave  birth  to  the  young 
giant,  America;  it  gave  England  a  Cromwell  and  France  a  Richelieu.  Its 
fermenting  forces  drove  the  Huguenots  from  France  and  the  Puritans  from 
England.  But  for  the  reformation  and  the  persecution  of  its  adherents,  these 
early  settlers  of  the  western  hemisphere  would  have  remained  in  France  and 
England  as  good  and  law-abiding  citizens.  As  dangerous  elements,  society 
had  to  protect  itself  against  them,  and  they  fled  over  the  Atlantic  rather  than 
to  suffer  martyrdom  at  home  for  their  “advanced  ideas.” 

The  reformation,  my  friends,  which  started  right  here,  in  the  country 
where  four  centuries  later  the  “Barbarian  Anarchists”  come  from,  “who  can¬ 
not  comprehend  the  spirit  of  the  American  institutions”  etc . broke 

down  the  feudal  barriers  which  impeded  human  progress.  It  was  asserted  in 
a  thirty  years’  war,  a  war  which  laid  the  continent  desolate,  that  the  exercise 
of  free  thought  and  opinion  and  that  scientific  investigation  should  no  longer 
be  suppressed  because  they  conflicted  with  religious  superstition  and  dogma 
generally  believed  in  and  sanctified  by  custom.  The  “good  and  law-abiding” 
people  were  fanatically  opposed  to  those  in  favor  of  the  imperative  change, 
and  oceans  of  blood  had  to  be  shed  in  consequence.  The  ruins  you  see  here 
wherever  you  turn  your  eyes  bear  witness  of  the  terrible  war  that  has  not 
yet  ended — the  war  for  human  emancipation  and  freedom :  economic,  polit¬ 
ical  and  religious.  Every  one  of  these  ruins  is  a  milestone  on  the  path  of 
social  progress.  At  our  feet  lies  the  historic  chaussee  upon  which  Napoleon’s 
victorious  armies,  much  against  the  intention  of  the  grand  empereur,  carried 
the  seed  of  “Liberty,  Equality,  Fraternity”  to  the  far  east,  and  there  opened  a 
new  perspective  to  the  purblind  eyes  of  the  oppressed  and  down-trodden  mil¬ 
lions  of  our  race.  Aye,  even  now  that  seed  is  bringing  forth  good  fruit.  Rus¬ 
sian  dungeons,  gibbets  and  Siberia  bear  witness. 

Now  friends,  before  we  retire  from  this  retrospective  view,  look  once  more 
in  the  mirror  of  the  past  1,000  years,  observe  closely  the  traces  that  lead 
from  yonder  chapel  to  this  castle,  from  here  to  the  Wartburg,  from  the  Wart- 
burg  to  the  battlefield  below  here  and  to  these  ruins,  and  then  follow  them  to 
England,  France  and  America;  follow  them  up  to  this  day  and  tell  me  if  you 
do  not  see  the  contours  of  the  future  reflected . You  do! . 

I  have  dwelt  at  great  length  in  describing  my  (barbarian)  birthplace, 
but  in  so  doing  I  have  traversed  in  a  general  way  over  the  history  of  1,000 
years.  The  present  status  of  society  is  but  the  result  of  the  struggle  of  human 
kind  during  this  and  preceding  periods — yes,  struggle!  “You  cannot  reform 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  AUGUST  SPIES. 


271 


the  world  by  the  sprinkling  of  rose  oil,”  said  Mirabeau,  and  history  proves 
that  he  was  right  In  no  age  did  the  rulers  and  despoilers  of  our  race  relin¬ 
quish  their  hold  upon  the  throat  of  their  victims,  until  forced  to — by  logic 

and  argument?  No . Blood,  the  precious  sap,  was  ever  the  price  of 

liberty. 

My  years  of  childhood  were  pleasant.  I  played  and  studied — how  different 
from  the  childhood  of  the  offsprings  of  the  average  workingman  in  this  “glor¬ 
ious,  civilized  and — according  to  Grinnell — enlightened  country.”  The  children 
of  the  proletaire  have  no  youth ;  the  spring  of  life  has  no  sunshine,  no  blos¬ 
soms,  no  flowers  for  them !  If  there  is  a  discernible  object  in  their  existence  it 
is  that  of  serving  to  make  life  happy  and  pleasant  for  those  who  tread  upon 
them. 

In  my  native  land  children  must  attend  school  daily  from  the  age  of  6  to 
that  of  14;  every  child  in  that  “Barbarian  country”  is  thus  compelled  to  attend 
school  for  8  years,  and  cannot  therefore  be  “utilized  and  made  to  pay”  by 
either  their  parents  or  factory  lords. 

In  this  enlightened  country  the  children  of  the  wage-workers  do  not  at¬ 
tend  school  in  the  average  more  than  two  years;  they  learn  just  enough  to 
serve  as  a  piece  of  organic  machinery,  and  as  such  they  are  “let  out”  to  benev¬ 
olent  and  Christian  employers  in  their  tenderest  years.  Their  vitality,  which  is 
needed  for  their  own  bodily  and  intellectual  development,  is  in  such  wise 
tapped  from  the  innocents  and  turned  into  gold  for  our  “law  and  order”  lov¬ 
ing,  respectable  citizens.  They  die  from  consumption  before  they  attain  their 
maturity,  or  resort  to  whisky,  thinking  thereby  to  restore  their  lost  vigor.  If 
they  escape  early  destruction,  their  life  is  generally  terminated  in  one  of  those 
charitable  or  reformatory  institutes  known  as  the  insane  asylum,  the  peniten¬ 
tiary,  or  poorhouse. 

But  woe  to  the  wretch  who  condemns  this  order  of  things !  He  is  an 
“enemy  of  civilization,”  and  “society  must  protect  itself  against  such  crimi¬ 
nals.” . There  comes  the  star-spangled  Mephisto,  Bonfield,  with  his 

noble  guards  of  “Liberty” ;  there  comes  the  savior  of  the  State,  Grinnell,  with 
the  visage  of  a  Sicilian  brigand;  there  comes  the  hireling  juror,  and  there 
comes  the  vast  horde  of  social  vultures:  Unisono  is  the  anathema!  Unisono 
is  the  cry — “To  the  gallows !” 

“Society”  is  saved,  and  “Liberty  and  order” — of  the  policeman’s  club — 
triumph!  Selah! 

I  do  not  intend  to  say  that  the  condition  of  the  wage-workers  in  Germany 
is  better  than  in  this  country,  but  I  will  say  that  I  never  saw  there  such  real 
suffering  from  want  as  I  have  seen  in  this  country.  And  there  is  more  protec¬ 
tion  for  women  and  children  in  Germany  than  here. 

I  was  educated  for  a  career  in  the  government  service  (forest  branch). 
As  a  child  I  had  private  tutors,  and  later  visited  the  Polytechnicum  in  Cassel. 
At  the  age  of  seventeen  my  father  died  suddenly,  leaving  a  large  family  in 


272 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  AUGUST  SPIES. 


moderate  circumstances.  As  I  was  the  eldest  one  I  did  not  feel  justified  in 
continuing  my  studies — they  were  expensive — and  concluded  to  go  to  America, 
where  I  had  and  have  now  a  number  of  well-to-do  relatives.  I  arrived  in  New 
York  in  1872,  and  upon  the  advice  of  my  friends  learned  the  furniture 
business.  The  following  year  I  came  to  Chicago,  where  I  have  resided 
ever  since ;  though  I  may  add  that.  I  have  been  away  from  the  city  occasionally 
for  some  time.  Once,  with  the  intention  of  settling  in  the  country,  I  worked 
on  a  farm  for  a  year.  But  seeing  that  the  small  farmers  and  renters  were  in  a 
worse  plight  even  than  the  city  wageworkers,  and  that  they  were  equally  de¬ 
pendent,  I  returned  to  the  city.  I  have  also  traveled  over  the  Southern  States 
to  get  acquainted  with  the  country  and  people,  and  at  another  time  I  joined  an 
exploring  expedition  through  Upper  Canada,  which  failed. 

When  I  arrived  in  this  country  I  knew  nothing  of  Socialism,  except  what 
I  had  seen  in  the  newspapers,  the  ‘'public  teachers”  (?)  and  from  what  I’d 
read  I  concluded  that  the  Socialists  were  a  lot  of  ignorant  and  lazy  vaga¬ 
bonds  “who  wanted  to  divide  up  everything.”  Having  come  but  very  little  in 
contact  with  people  who  earned  their  living  by  honest  labor  in  the  old  country, 
I  was  amazed  and  was  shocked  when  I  became  acquainted  with  the  condition 
of  the  wage-workers  in  the  new  world. 

The  factory  with  its  ignominous  regulations :  the  surveillance,  the  spy 
system,  then  the  servility  and  lack  of  manhood  among  the  workers  and  the 
arrogant  arbitrary  behavior  of  the  boss  and  his  mamelukes — all  this  made  an 
impression  upon  me  that  I  have  never  been  able  to  divest  myself  of.  At  first 
I  could  not  understand  why  the  workers,  among  them  many  old  men  with  bent 
backs,  silently  and  without  a  sign  of  protest  bore  every  insult  the  caprice  of 
the  foreman  or  boss  would  heap  upon  them.  I  was  not  then  aware  of  the  fact 
that  the  opportunity  to  work  was  a  privilege,  a  favor,  and  that  it  was  in  the 
power  of  those  who  were  in  the  possession  of  the  factories  and  instruments 
of  labor  to  deny  or  grant  this  privilege.  I  did  not  then  understand  how  diffi¬ 
cult  it  was  to  find  a  purchaser  for  one’s  labor.  I  did  not  know  then  that  there 
were  thousands  and  thousands  of  idle  human  bodies  in  the  market,  ready  to 
hire  out  upon  most  any  conditions,  actually  begging  for  employment.  I  became 
conscious  of  this  very  soon,  however,  and  I  knew  then  why  these  people  were 
so  servile,  why  they  suffered  the  humiliating  dictates  and  capricious  whims  of 
their  employers.  Personally  I  had  no  great  difficulty  in  “getting  along.”  I 
had  so  many  advantages  over  my  co-workers.  I  would  most  likely  have  suc¬ 
ceeded  in  becoming  a  respectable  business  man  myself,  if  I  had  been  pos¬ 
sessed  of  that  unscrupulous  egotism  which  characterizes  the  successful  busi¬ 
ness  man,  and  if  my  aspirations  had  been  that  of  the  avaricious  hamster  (the 
latter  belongs  to  the  family  of  rats,  and  his  “pursuit  in  life”  is  to  steal  and 
accumulate;  m  some  of  their  depositories  the  contents  of  whole  graneries 
have  often  been  found ;  their  greatest  delight  seems  to  be  possession,  for  they 


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273 


steal  a  great  deal  more  than  they  can  consume ;  in  fact  they  steal,  like  most 
of  our  respectable  citizens,  regardless  of  their  capacity  of  consumption.) 

My  philosophy  has  always  been  that  the  object  of  life  can  consist  in  the 
enjoyment  of  life  only,  and  that  the  rational  application  of  this  principle  is 
true  morality. 

I  held  that  asceticism,  as  taught  by  the  Church,  was  a  crime  against 
nature. 

Now  observing  that  the  vast  mass  of  the  people  were  wasting  their  lives  in 
drudgery,  accompanied  with  want  and  misery,  it  was  but  natural  for  me  to  in¬ 
quire  into  the  causes.  (I  had  up  to  that  time  never  read  a  book,  or  even  an 
impartial  essay  on  Modern  Socialism.)  Was  this  self-abnegation,  this  self¬ 
crucifixion  of  the  people  voluntary,  or  was  it  forced  upon  them;  and  if  so,  by 
whom  ? 

About  this  time,  while  looking  over  my  books  in  search  of  something,  my 
attention  was  attracted  by  this  passage  from  Aristotle :  “When,  at  some  future 
age,  every  tool  upon  command,  or  by  predestination,  will  perform  its  work  as 
the  art  works  of  Daedalus  did,  who  moved  by  themselves,  or  like  the  feet  of 
Hephaestos,  who  went  to  their  sacred  work  spontaneously,  when  thus  the 
weaver  shuttles  will  weave  by  themselves,  then  we  will  no  longer  require  mas¬ 
ters  and  slaves.” 

Had  this  time,  long  ago  anticipated  by  the  great  thinker,  not  come?  Yes,  it 
had.  There  were  the  machines.  But  master  and  slave  still  existed.  The 
question  arose  in  my  mind,  is  their  existence  still  necessary? 

Antiporas,  a  Greek  poet,  who  lived  at  the  time  of  Cicero,  had  in  like  man¬ 
ner  greeted  the  inventions  of  the  water-mill  (water  power)  as  the  emancipa¬ 
tor  of  male  and  female  slaves.  “Oh,  these  heathens !”  writes  Karl  Marx,  after 
quoting  the  above ;  “they  knew  nothing  of  Political  Economy  and  Christen¬ 
dom  !  They  failed  to  conceive  how  nicely  the  machines  could  be  employed  to 
lengthen  the  hours  of  toil  and  to  intensify  the  burdens  of  the  slaves.  They 
(the  heathens)  excused  the  slavery  of  one  on  the  ground  that  it  would  af¬ 
ford  the  opportunity  of  human  development  to  another.  But  to  preach  the 
slavery  of  the  masses  in  order  that  a  few  rude  and  arrogant  parvenus  might 
become  ‘eminent  spinners,’  ‘extensive  sausage-makers’  and  ‘influential  shoe 
black  dealers’ — to  do  this  they  lacked  that  specific  Christian  organ.” 

I  think  it  was  in  1875,  at  the  time  the  “Workingmen’s  Party  of  Illinois” 
was  organized,  when,  upon  the  invitation  of  a  friend,  I  visited  the  first  meet¬ 
ing  in  which  a  lecture  on  Socialism  was  delivered.  Viewed  from  a  rhetorical 
standpoint  this  lecture,  delivered  by  a  young  mechanic,  was  not  very  impres¬ 
sive,  but  the  substance . I  will  simply  say  that  this  lecture  gave  me  the 

passepartout  to  the  many  interrogation  marks  which  had  worried  me  for  a 
number  of  years. 

I  procured  every  piece  of  literature  I  could  get  on  the  subject;  whether  it 
was  adverse  or  friendly  to  Socialism  made  no  difference.  In  the  beginning  I 


274 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  AUGUST  SPIES. 


was  a  visionary,  an  enthusiast.  I  believed  as  so  many  righteous  people  do  to¬ 
day  that  the  truth  only  required  to  be  expressed,  the  argument  only  to  be  made 
to  enlist  every  good  man  and  woman  in  the  good  cause  of  humanity.  In  my 
youthful  enthusiasm  I  forgot  to  apply  the  experience  of  historical  progress 
to  this  particular  case.  But  to  my  great  sorrow  I  soon  became  convinced  that 
the  bulk  of  humanity  were  automatons,  incapable  of  thinking  and  reasoning, 
altogether  unconscious  of  themselves,  simply  tools  of  custom — 

“For  from  the  sordid  is  man  made, 

Usage  and  custom  he  doth  call  his  nurse. 

— Schiller. 

But  nothing  could  discourage  me.  The  study  of  French,  German  and 
English  economist  and  social  scientists  soon  made  me  view  things  differently 
than  I  had  seen  them  in  my  first  enthusiasm.  Buckles’  “History  of  Civiliza¬ 
tion,”  Karl  Marx’s  “Kapital,”  and  Morgan’s  “Ancient  Society”  have  probably 
had  the  greatest  influence  over  me  of  any.  I  now  became  an  attentive  observer 
of  the  various  social  phenomena  myself.  The  last  ten  years  have  been  very 
favorable  for  such  investigation  as  I  sought.  I  found  my  favorite  teachers 
corroborated  everywhere. 

I  think  it  was  in  1877  when  I  first  became  a  member  of  the  Socialistic 
Labor  Party.  The  events  of  that  year,  the  brute  force  with  which  the  whin¬ 
ing  and  confiding  wage-slaves  were  met  on  all  sides,  impressed  upon  me  the 
necessity  of  like  resistance.  The  latter  required  organization.  Shortly  after¬ 
wards  I  joined  the  “Lehr  und  Wehr  Verein,”  an  armed  organization  of  the 
workingmen,  numbering  about  1,500  well  drilled  members.  As  soon  as  our 
patricians  saw  that  the  canaille  was  arming  for  defense  to  repel  such  scan¬ 
dalous  attacks  in  the  future  as  had  been  made  upon  them  in  1877,  they  at  once 
commanded  their  law  agents  in  Springfield  to  prohibit  workingmen  from 
bearing  arms.  The  command  was  obeyed. 

The  workingmen  also  went  into  politics,  independent  politics.  I  served 
as  a  nominal  candidate  myself  several  times,  but  when  the  noble  patricians 
and  the  political  augurs  saw  that  they  (the  workingmen)  were  successful  in 
electing  a  number  of  their  candidates,  a  conspiracy  was  organized  to  dis¬ 
franchise  them  by  fraudulent  count  and  like  methods.  The  workingmen  there¬ 
upon  left  the  ballot  with  disgust. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ADOLPH  FISCHER. 


WRITTEN  IN  COOK  COUNTY  JAIL  IN  THE  SUMMER  OF  l886  WHILE  AWAITING  THE 

EXECUTION  OF  THE  DEATH  SENTENCE. 

On  the  banks  of  the  Weser,  in  Germany,  about  seven  miles  above  where 
its  waters  lose  themselves  in  the  North  Sea,  lies  the  old  city,  Bremen.  In 
the  middle  ages  Bremen  was  one  of  the  free  cities  which  formed  the  Hansea- 
tonic  Union — a  combination  famous  because  of  its  constant  wars  against  the 
freebooters  and  for  its  wealth  and  power.  These  cities  monopolized  the  trade 
of  the  world  in  those  days.  Bremen  is  still  one  of  the  most  important  com¬ 
mercial  centers  of  the  European  continent,  and  has  to-day  a  population  of 
about  140,000.  This  is  the  place  of  my  birth.  It  will  be  of  little  interest  to 
the  reader  were  I  to  extensively  describe  the  history  of  my  childhood.  It  is 
the  s'ame  as  that  of  the  average  child.  Therefore  I  may  only  state  that  I  at¬ 
tended  school  eight  years  and  a  half  and  that  I  sailed  for  the  United  States 
when  a  lad  of  fifteen  years.  Soon  after  my  arrival  on  these  shores  I  entered 
apprenticeship  as  compositor  in  the  printing  office  of  my  brother,  William  B. 
Fischer,  at  Little  Rock,  Ark.,  at  which  place  he  published  a  weekly  German 
journal.  Since  the  termination  of  my  apprenticeship  I  have  been  working 
at  my  trade  in  different  cities  of  this  country.  In  June,  1883,  destiny  landed 
me  in  Chicago,  where  I  have  resided  with  my  family  since,  occupying  a  situ¬ 
ation  as  compositor  in  the  office  of  the  Arbeiter-Z eitung  until  my  arrest  on  the 
5th  day  of  May  for  alleged  participation  in  the  Haymarket  affair.  I  am  a 
member  of  the  German  Typographical  Union,  which  organization  I  joined 
in  1879  in  St.  Louis,  Mo.  At  the  latter  place,  in  1881,  I  also  entered  into  a 
matrimonial  engagement,  the  result  being  three  children — one  girl  and  two 
boys — who  are  with  my  wife  in  this  city. 

Being  familiar  with  the  doctrines  of  Socialism  from  my  earliest  youth,  I 
have  held  it  my  duty  to  spread  these  principles  so  dear  to  me,  whenever  and 
wherever  I  could.  What  induced  me  to  become  a  Socialist,  you  may  ask?  I 
will  relate  in  a  few  words. 

It  happened  during  the  last  of  my  school  days  that  our  tutor  of  historical 
science  one  day  chanced  to  refer  to  Socialism,  which  was  at  that  time  begin¬ 
ning  to  flourish  in  Germany,  saying  it  meant  “division  of  property.”  I  am 
inclined  now  to  believe  that  it  was  a  general  instruction  given  by  the  Gov¬ 
ernment  to  the  patriotic  pedagogues  to  periodically  describe  Socialism  to  their 
elder  pupils  as  a  most  horrible  thing.  It  is  a  customary  policy  on  the  part 
of  the  respective  monarchial  Governments  of  the  Old  World  to  prejudice 


275 


276 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ADOLPH  FISCHER. 


the  undeveloped  minds  of  youth  against  everything  which  is  disagreeable  to 
despots  through  the  medium  of  the  school  teachers.  For  instance,  before  the 
outbreak  and  during  the  Franco-German  war  we  were  made  to  believe  by  our 
teachers  that  every  Frenchman  was  at  least  a  scoundrel  if  not  a  criminal. 
On  the  other  hand,  kings  were  praised  as  the  representatives  of  God,  and 
obedience  and  loyalty  to  them  was  described  as  the  highest  virtues.  Thus 
the  minds  of  the  children  are  systematically  poisoned,  and  the  fruits  of  this 
practice  are  made  use  of  when  the  little  ones  become  men  and  women.  On 
the  occasion  mentioned  our  teacher  told  us  that  Socialists  were  a  lot  of 
drunkards,  swindlers  and  idlers,  who  were  opposed  to  work.  “The  time 
draws  near,”  that  worthy  said,  “when  you  young  men  will  have  to  earn  your 
daily  bread  in  the  sweat  of  your  brow.  Some  of  you  will  acquire  wealth, 
while  others  will  be  less  fortunate.  Now  these  Socialists,  mark  you,  who  are 
a  lazy  set  of  people,  intend  forcibly  to  make  you  divide  with  them  everything 
you  possess  at  the  termination  of  each  year.  For  instance,  if  you  should 
call  two  pairs  of  boots  your  own,  one  of  these  Socialistic  scoundrels  would 
kindly  relieve  you  of  one  pair.  How  would  you  like  that !”  Certainly  we 
thought  we  should  not  like  it  at  all.  Nor  would  I  consent  to  anything  of 
that  sort  now.  Most  decidedly  not — such  an  arrangement  would  be  absurd. 
Now  I  knew  it  to  be  a  fact  that  my  father  took  part  in  Socialist  meetings 
very  frequently,  and  I  wondered  that  day  why  he,  whom  I  thought  to  be  so 
good,  should  have  intercourse  with  such  a  bad  class  of  men  whose  object 
it  was  to  lead  a  lazy  life  and  to  make  sober,  industrious  workingmen,  at  the 
end  of  each  year,  divide  their  earnings  with  them.  When  I  reached  home  I 
intimated  to  my  father  (according  to  what  my  teacher  had  told  us)  what 
bad  people  the  Socialists  must  be.  Much  to  my  surprise  my  dear  father 
laughed  aloud  and  embraced  me  affectionately. 

“Dear  Adolph,”  he  said,  “if  Socialism  is  what  your  teacher  explained  it  to 
be  why  the  very  institutions  which  prevail  now  would  be  Socialistic.”  And 
my  father  went  on  to  show  me  how,  in  fact,  there  are  so  many  idlers  and 
indolent  people  under  the  existing  form  of  society  who  were  residing  in  pa¬ 
latial  houses  and  living  luxuriously  at  the  expense  of  sober  and  industrious 

t 

working  people,  and  that  Socialism  had  a  mission  to  abolish  such  unjust  di¬ 
vision.  After  this  day  I  accompanied  my  father  to  Socialist  gatherings,  and 
soon  became  convinced  of  the  truth  of  what  he  had  said.  I  began  to  study. 
Wandering  about  the  streets,  I  often  saw  groups  of  hardfisted  men  working 
in  quarries  and  other  places  of  toil  and  handling  heavy  picks  and  clumsy 
shovels  from  early  morning  until  late  at  night.  I  would  notice  standing  a 
little  aside  an  elegantly  dressed  individual  smoking  a  Havana,  and  seemingly 
interested  in  the  work  of  the  toilers.  The  hands  of  the  idler  were  covered 
with  kid  gloves;  in  the  bosom  of  his  snow-white  shirt  glittered  a  diamond, 
and  from  his  vest  dangled  a  valuable  gold  watch  chain.  You  can  guess 
who  this  gentleman  was— the  “employer.”  The  busy  toilers,  notwithstanding 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ADOLPH  FISCHER. 


277 


the  many  hours  of  strained  work,  could  scarcely  earn  enough  to  keep  them¬ 
selves  and  families  from  want.  I  saw  they  inhabited  miserable  hovels,  and  the 
pleasures  and  comforts  of  life  were  unknown  to  them.  Their  children  were 
hollow-eyed  and  resembled  fence  posts  covered  with  human  skin  more  than 
human  beings.  On  one  occasion  I  followed  the  fine  gentleman  who  had  been 
standing  idly  by  commanding  the  workingmen,  and  saw  him  enter  a  wonder¬ 
fully  beautiful  house — a  palace.  Costly  pictures  decorated  the  walls,  precious 
carpets  covered  the  floors,  and  golden  chandeliers  were  suspended  from  the 
ceilings.  The  safes  and  pantries  were  bursting  with  their  tempting  contents, 
and  the  tables  covered  with  choice  wines  and  delicacies.  In  short,  everything 
good  and  agreeable  could  be  enjoyed  there  in  abundance.  This  contrast  be¬ 
tween  the  busy  toiler  and  the  idle  bystander  did  not  fail  to  impress  me, 
especially  as  I  observed  that  these  conditions  existed  everywhere  and  in  all 
branches  of  industry.  I  perceived  that  the  diligent,  never-resting  human  work¬ 
ing  bees  who  create  all  wealth  enjoy  only  a  minor  part  of  their  products  and 
lead  comparatively  miserable  lives,  whilst  the  drones  keep  the  warehouses 
locked  up  and  revel  in  luxury  and  voluptuousness.  Was  I  wrong  or  was  the 
world  wrong?  I  saw  men  who  manufactured  shoes  and  boots  and  had 
helped  fill  storehouses  with  these  products  ever  since  their  boyhood,  and  yet 
they  lingered  in  their  shanties  after  rainy  weather  for  fear  of  getting  wet  feet, 
and  in  many  cases  the  toes  of  their  children’s  feet  peeped  speakingly  out  from 
their  shabby  shoes.  Bricklayers  were  busy  building  houses,  but  very  few 
owned  a  house  to  live  in.  The  clothing  stores  were  full  of  goods,  but  it  was 
not  a  rare  sight  in  my  native  city  to  see  tailors  going  about  to  such  an  extent 
that  they  resemble  chessboards.  While  the  bakers  were  half  roasting  in  the 
hot  bakehouse  sixteen  hours  out  of  the  twenty-four,  their  wives  in  many 
instances  did  not  know  where  to  get  a  loaf  of  bread.  My  father’s  neighbor 
worked  in  a  butcher  shop,  but  his  wages  were  so  low  that  his  family  could 
afford  the  luxury  of  a  pound  of  meat  only  once  a  week — on  Sunday.  All 
these  circumstances  convinced  me  that  ‘There  must  be  something  rotten  in 
Denmark,”  and  it  did  not  require  a  sorcerer  to  discover  that  the  prevailing 
social  institutions  were  based  upon  the  extortion  of  one  class  by  another. 

But  now  after  coming  to  this  conclusion,  I  wondered  whether  the  work¬ 
ingmen  were  conscious  of  their  real  situation.  I  found  that  the  overwhelming 
majority  were  not.  Instead  of  hating  those  who  enslaved  them,  they  looked 
upon  their  masters  as  their  benefactors.  I  remember  visiting  a  cousin  of 
mine  one  Sunday,  who  worked  in  a  gigantic  sugar  refinery  together  with 
thousands  of  other  men  and  women,  the  owner  of  said  factory  being  a  well- 
known  millionaire.  My  cousin  could  not  help  at  every  occasion  speaking  in 
high  terms  of  his  “benefactor,”  as  he  styled  his  employer.  On  this  day  he 
especially  endeavored  to  make  the  generosity  of  his  employer  plain  to  me. 
“Why,”  my  enthusiastic  cousin  explained,  “besides  employing  so  many  people 
who  would  otherwise  starve,  he  donates  annually  an  enormous  sum  of  money 


278 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  ADOLPH  FISCHER. 


to  charitable  purposes,  and  furthermore  was  so  noble-hearted  as  to  give  em¬ 
ployment  to  the  wives  and  children  of  the  two  unfortunate  workingmen 
who  lost  their  lives  by  being  crushed  by  the  machinery.”  But  ungrateful  as  I 
was  I  could  not  see  anything  noble  in  this.  I  had  read  in  novels  (secretly, 
my  father  having  forbidden  such  literature)  that  famous  highwaymen  had 
given  part  of  their  booty  to  the  poor,  and  I  therefore  saw  nothing  extraordi¬ 
nary  in  the  “charity”  of  my  cousin’s  “benefactor.”  I  communicated  my 
thoughts  to  my  relative,  who  in  return  got  very  angry  because  of  this  com¬ 
parison  and  muttered  something  that  sounded  like  “that  lad  is  getting  too 
smart.”  Jhis  is  only  one  example.  Thus  I  found  the  brain  of  the  toiler 
molded  everywhere.  Oh,  these  stupid  fools!  They  are  slaves  without  know¬ 
ing  it.  They  stood  still  like  innocent  sheep  while  their  masters  sheared  them. 
Aye  more  than  that,  they  looked  upon  them  as  their  noble  benefactors,  who 
employed  them  for  the  purpose  of  saving  them  from  starvation. 

Adolph  Fischer. 


. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  GEORGE  ENGEL. 


WRITTEN  IN  COOK  COUNTY  JAIL  IN  THE  SUMMER  OF  l886  WHILE  AWAITING  THE 

EXECUTION  OF  THE  DEATH  SENTENCE. 

I  was  born  the  15th  of  April,  1836,  in  the  city  of  Casel,  Germany,  at  that 
time  the  capital  of  Kurhessen.  My  father,  Conrad  Engel,  a  mason  and  brick¬ 
layer,  died  when  I  was  eighteen  months  old,  and  left  my  mother,  a  very 
poor  widow,  with  four  little  children.  When  I  was  twelve  years  old  my 
mother  died  and  left  me  to  the  mercies  of  the  cruel  world.  Two  of  my 
brothers  were  taken  to  an  orphan  asylum,  I  and  another  child  were  given  to 
two  poor  families  that  took  care  of  us  for  20  thalers  ($15)  a  year.  I  already 
knew  what  hunger  meant ;  then  I  learned  what  starvation  was.  When  I  was 
fourteen  the  city  quit  paying  for  my  sustenance  and  I  was  told  that  it  was 
time  for  me  to  learn  a  trade.  And  so  it  was.  In  Germany  a  common  school 
education  is  compulsory  and  every  child  must  go  to  school  twelve  months 
in  the  year,  excepting  the  usual  vacations,  from  the  age  of  seven  to  fourteen. 
At  fourteen  the  boy  begins  to  learn  a  trade  and  goes  to  the  Sunday  school. 
There  he  is  further  educated  in  reading,  writing,  arithmetic,  drawing,  etc. 
Nobody  caring  for  me,  I  went  around  and  at  last  found  a  shoemaker  who 
was  willing  to  teach  me  the  mysteries  of  shoemaking  in  four  years  if  some¬ 
body  would  furnish  me  with  clothing  and  washing  during  that  time.  Nobody 
was  inclined  to  do  me  that  favor,  and  having  been  apprenticed  for  two  weeks, 
the  shoemaker  turned  me  into  the  street.  For  some  time  I  searched  in  vain 
for  a  master,  and  then  gave  it  up.  In  Germany  to  a  great  extent,  even  to  this 
day,  an  apprentice  must  pay  to  his  master  a  certain  sum  for  learning  a  trade, 
so  it  is  difficult  for  a  poor  boy  to  get  apprenticed  at  all.  I  had  lost  all  hope 
when  I  heard  that  certain  of  my  schoolmates  had  emigrated  to  America.  I 
heard  a  good  deal  of  the  United  States,  which  left  on  my  mind  the  impression 
that  there  was  a  better  chance  for  me  in  that  country.  But  before  I  could 
leave  I  must  earn  some  money,  and  I  therefore  went  to  Frankfort-on-the- 
Main  to  try  my  luck  after  having  failed  in  Cassel.  As  I  had  no  money  I 
traveled  on  foot.  Tired  and  footsore  after  several  days,  I  reached  Frankfort, 
and  wandered  in  the  streets  of  the  city  during  the  day,  not  knowing  what  to 
do.  Night  came  and  hunger  and  cold  drove  me  into  a  saloon.  I  asked  the 
saloonkeeper  for  something  to  eat,  saying  I  would  work  for  it.  He  arose 
and  angrily  told  me  to  get  out.  A  citizen  in  the  room  pitied  me,  for  I  was 
only  fourteen,  and  offered  to  learn  the  trade  of  painting,  if  I  vyas  willing  to 
go  with  him.  Very  thankful  and  glad,  I  said  yes.  I  went  with  him  after 


279 


28  o 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  GEORGE  ENGEL. 


eating  a  hearty  meal  for  which  he  paid.  I  was  apprenticed  according  to  the 
rules  of  the  trade,  and  I  remember  the  years  of  my  apprenticeship  with  grati¬ 
tude,  for  my  master  was  a  just  and  good  man.  After  learning  my  trade  I 
went  abroad — “traveled,’’  for  so  the  custom  of  young  mechanics  is  described. 
In  the  year  of  1863  I  came  to  Bremen,  after  having  worked  in  Mayence, 
Cologne  and  Dusseldorf.  I  read  a  great  deal,  but  nothing  of  Socialistic  liter¬ 
ature.  Up  to  this  time  I  had  been  easy  going  and  careless ;  by  and  by  I  began 
to  think  of  the  difference  between  the  rich  and  poor. 

The  newspapers  in  Bremen  had  much  to  say  about  the  oppression  of  the  in¬ 
habitants  of  Schleswig-Holstein  by  Denmark.  A  movement  was  going  on  to 
free  these  German  brothers  from  the  yoke  of  the  Danish  king,  as  it  was  put. 
I  considered  the  struggle  of  my  countrymen  something  great  and  joined  a 
regiment  of  volunteers.  We  were  drilled  and  marched  to  Altona  in  Schleswig- 
Holstein.  But  when  the  regular  militia  of  Prussia  and  Austria  came  there 
our  regiment  dissolved.  The  war  between  the  German  federation  and  Den¬ 
mark  then  broke  out.  The  German  brothers  were  freed  from  the  Danish,  only 
to  come  under  the  Prussian  yoke. 

I  worked  in  many  different  cities.  The  years  1868  found  me  in  Rehna, 
Mecklenburg-Schwerin,  where  I  married.  There  I  started  a  business  for  my¬ 
self.  The  development  of  the  factory  system  in  Germany  swept  most  of  the 
small  manufacturers  out  of  existence.  The  struggle  for  life  increased  and  it 
became  harder  to  make  a  decent  living.  My  intention  to  emigrate  to  America, 
which  I  had  when  a  boy,  came  back  to  me.  To  make  it  short,  the  8th  day  of 
January,  1873,  found  me  in  Philadelphia.  I  took  work  in  a  sugar  refinery,  and 
in  May  worked  again  as  a  painter.  In  this  city,  for  the  first  time  in  my  life, 
I  heard  something  about  serious  labor  troubles.  The  militia  marched  along 
the  streets,  coming  from  the  coal  mines,  where  they  had  “subjugated”  some 
troublesome,  starving  miners.  I  watched  them,  when  a-bystander  says:  “These 
scoundrels  ought  to  be  hung  on  the  spot.”  The  remark  surprised  me,  for  at 
that  time,  being  an  “ignorant  foreigner,”  I  sang  the  praises  of  this  “free  and 
glorious  country.”  Scornfully  looking  at  the  man,  I  asked  the  reason  of  his 
unpatriotic  remark.  He  gave  me  his  reasons ;  having  been  a  manufacturer 
myself,  though  on  a  small  scale,  and  knowing  nothing  of  the  labor  question, 
I  could  not  comprehend  him ;  in  answer  I  reiterated  the  well-known  trash 
of  the  capitalist  newspaper.  It  is  true,  I  earned  what  was  called  good  wages 
by  ten  hours’  daily  work  and  laid  by  a  little  money  for  a  rainy  day.  Well, 
the  rainy  day  came  soon  enough ;  I  became  sick  and  my  eyes  suffered.  Doc¬ 
tors  and  medicine  were  dear ;  my  family  had  to  be  supported  and  my  savings 
were  soon  gone.  For  a  year  we  had  a  very  hard  time  and  then.  I  began  to  get 
well  and  able  to  work  again.  As  soon  as  I  earned  money  enough  I  came  to 
Chicago,  and  here  I  learned  something  of  Socialism  for  the  first  time  in  my 
life.  In  the  year  1874  I  worked  in  Tembruth’s  wagon  factory.  There  I  got 
acquainted  with  a  Socialist  One  day  he  showed  me  a  paper,  Der  Vorbote, 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  GEORGE  ENGEL. 


28l 


a  small  Socialist  weekly  edited  by  Conrad  Conzett,  who  is  now  working  for  the 
cause  in  Switzerland.  I  found  the  paper  very  interesting  and  saw  that  it  con¬ 
tained  great  truths.  I  was  delighted  with  it.  An  advertisement  of  a  meeting 
to  be  held  by  the  International  Workingmen’s  Association  at  130  Lake  street 
attracted  my  attention  and  I  attended  it.  About  fifteen  or  seventeen  men 
were  present — a  small  branch  of  the  I.  W.  A.  These  men  made  great  sac¬ 
rifices  to  uphold  their  paper,  and  it  was  at  that  time  astonishing  to  me  that 
men  could,  without  any  compensation,  work  so  eagerly  for  humanity.  It 
struck  me  what  a  gigantic  work  it  was  to  educate  and  organize  the  masses 
who  create  everything  only  to  be  cheated  by  their  exploiters  out  of  the  fruits 
of  their  toil.  My  health  was  good.  I  had  work;  therefore  was  able  to  buy 
and  study  Socialistic  literature.  The  more  I  read  the  more  I  became  con¬ 
vinced  ;  enlisted  in  the  cause  and  have  worked  for  and  grown  firmer  in  my 
belief  ever  since.  I  started  a  toy  store  in  1876,  which  gave  me  more  time 
and  opportunity  to  work  for  the  cause.  In  1878  the  I.  W.  A.  disbanded  and 
all  the  members  entered  the  different  labor  organizations  of  the  city,  and  in 
a  short  time  we  were  able  to  organize  the  ‘‘Socialistic  Labor  Party.”  Next  year 
we  polled  12,000  votes  for  the  labor  candidates.  This  was  a  great  success, 
but  it  brought  a  horde  of  corrupt  politicians  into  our  ranks,  who  cared  little 
or  nothing  for  principle.  Dissensions  broke  out  and  reduced  our  numbers 
considerably.  At  the  time  of  the  Greenback  Convention  in  Chicago  some  of 
our  members  proposed  a  fusion  with  the  Greenbackers ;  others  held  that  to  be 
treason  to  the  Socialistic  principle.  In  Chicago  the  anti-Greenback-fusion 
faction  was  in  the  lead.  Numerous  quarrels  ensued,  and  at  last  nothing 
but  two  or  three  small  Socialistic  societies  were  left.  The  only  substantial 
remaining  permanent  was  Arbeiter  Zeitung,  Vorbote,  and  Fackel,  all  German 
newspapers.  Of  course,  there  were  thousands  of  Socialists  in  the  city,  al¬ 
though  unorganized.  They  still  believed  in  the  ballot,  but  when  Judge  Gardner 
refused  to  punish  two  ballot  box  stuffers  and  said  it  was  a  righteous  thing  to 
cheat  a  Communist  out  of  his  vote  these  workingmen  got  disgusted  with  voting 
and  began  to  reason  as  to  other  methods  of  spreading  Socialist  principles. 
In  1882  the  Socialists  began  to  rally  and  founded  clubs  all  over  the  city  which 
declared  themselves  for  the  International  Working  People’s  Association,  the 
American  branch  of  which  was  founded  in  October,  1883,  in  Pittsburg,  Pa.  I 
soon  became  an  active  member  of  the  international.  I  belonged  to  the  North¬ 
west-Side  Group,  the  original  group  in  that  part  of  the  city. 

On  May  2  and  3,  1886,  I  was  present  at  meetings  in  which  it  was  pro¬ 
posed  to  give  aid  to  any  strikers  if  the  police  or  Pinkertons  should  attack 
them.  On  the  evening  of  May  4  I  was  at  home  playing  cards,  when  Waller 
entered  and  told  us  of  the  tragedy  on  the  Haymarket.  I  told  him  to  go  home, 
and  very  soon  after  went  to  bed  myself. 

And  now  a  few  words  as  to  the  bomb-throwing.  It  is  my  belief  to-day 
that  if  the  bomb  had  not  been  thrown  by  the  unknown,  at  least  300  working 


282 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  GEORGE  ENGEL. 


people  would  have  been  killed  or  wounded  by  the  police.  The  police  were  used 
to  put  an  end  to  the  eight-hour  movement,  and  thereby  save  the  capitalists 
of  this  city  millions  of  dollars’  profit  on  labor.  The  police,  led  by  Bonfield, 
wanted  to  pose  as  petted  champions  of  the  millionaires.  It  came  out  different¬ 
ly,  and  that  is  what  the  police  are  so  enraged  about.  They  intended  to 
slaughter  the  workingmen,  but  were  disappointed.  George  Engel. 


. 
v 


Louis  Lingg. 


SPEECH  OF  LOUIS  LINGG. 

Louis  Lingg  was  born  in  Germany;  was  a  carpenter  by  trade,  and  worked 
steadily  at  his  trade  after  coming  to  America;  was  never  arrested  before  the 
Haymarket  trouble.  He  was  only  22  years  old  at  the  time  of  his  death. 

Following  are  extracts  from  his  speech  in  remonstrance  to  the  death 
sentence : 

Court  of  Justice!  With  the  same  irony  with  which  you  have  regarded 
my  efforts  to  win  in  this  “free  land  of  America”  a  livelihood  such  as  human¬ 
kind  is  worthy  to  enjoy,  do  you  now,  after  condemning  me  to  death,  concede 
me  the  liberty  of  making  a  final  speech. 

I  accept  your  concession;  but  it  is  only  for  the  purpose  of  exposing  the 
injustice,  the  calumnies  and  the  outrages  which  have  been  heaped  upon  me. 

You  have  accused  me  of  murder  and  convicted  me;  what  proof  have  you 
brought  that  I'  am  guilty? 

*  *  * 

It  is  not  murder,  however,  of  which  you  have  convicted  me.  The  judge 
has  stated  that  much  only  this  morning  in  his  resume  of  the  case,  and  Grin¬ 
ned  has  repeatedly  asserted  that  we  were  being  tried,  not  for  murder,  but 
for  Anarchy,  so  that  the  condemnation  is — that  I  am  an  Anarchist ! 

*  *  * 

You  have  charged  me  with  despising  “law  and  order.”  What  does  your 
“law  and  order”  amount  to?  Its  representatives  are  the  police,  and  they 
have  thieves  in  their  ranks.  Here  sits  Captain  Schaack.  He  has  himself  ad¬ 
mitted  to  me  that  my  hat  and  books  have  been  stolen  from  him  in  his  office — 
stolen  by  policemen.  These  are  your  defenders  of  property  rights ! 

The  detectives,  again,  who  arrested  me  forced  their  way  into  my  room 
like  house  breakers,  under  false  pretences,  giving  the  name  of  a  carpenter, 
Lorenz,  of  Burlington  street.  They  have  sworn  that  I  was  alone  in  my  room, 
therein  perjuring  themselves.  You  have  not  subpoenaed  this  lady,  Mrs.  Klein, 
who  was  present,  and  could  have  sworn  that  the  aforesaid  detectives  broke 
into  my  room  under  false  pretences,  and  that  their  testimonies  are  perjured. 

But  let  us  go  further.  In  Schaack  we  have  a  captain  of  the  police,  and 
he  also  has  perjured  himself.  He  has  sworn  that  I  admitted  to  him  being 
present  at  the  Monday  night’s  meeting,  whereas  I  distinctly  informed  him 
that  I  was  at  a  carpenter’s  meeting  at  Zepf’s  Hall.  He  has  sworn  again  that  I 
told  him  that  I  had  learned  how  to  make  bombs  from  Herr  Most’s  book.  That 
also  is  perjury. 


283 


284  SPEECH  OF  LOUIS  LINGG. 

Let  ns  go  still  a  step  higher  among  these  representatives  of  “law  and 
order.’'  Grinnell  and  his  associates  have  permitted  perjury,  and  I  say  that 
they  have  done  it  knowingly.  The  proof  has  been  adduced  by  my  counsel, 
and  with  my  own  eyes  I  have  seen  Grinnell  point  out  to  Gilmer,  eight  days 
before  he  came  upon  the  stand,  the  persons  of  the  men  whom  he  was  to  swear 
against. 

While  I,  as  I  have  stated  above,  believe  in  force  for  the  sake  of  winning 
for  myself  and  fellow  workmen  a  livelihood  such  as  men  ought  to  have,  Grin¬ 
nell,  on  the  other  hand,  through  his  police  and  other  rogues,  has  suborned 
perjury  in  order  to  murder  seven  men,  of  whom  I  am  one. 

Grinnell  had  the  pitiful  courage,  here  in  this  court  room,  where  I  could 
not  defend  myself,  to  call  me  a  coward !  The  scoundrel !  A  fellow  who  has 
leagued  himself  with  a  parcel  of  base  hireling  knaves  to  bring  me  to  the  gal¬ 
lows.  Why?  For  no  earthly  reason  save  a  contemptible  selfishness — a  desire 
tc  “rise  in  the  world” — to  “make  money,”  forsooth ! 

This  wretch — who,  by  means  of  the  perjuries  of  other  wretches  is  going 
to  murder  seven  men — is  the  fellow  who  calls  me  “coward !”  And  yet  you 
blame  me  for  despising  such  “defenders  of  the  law” — such  unspeakable 
hypocrites ! 

The  judge  himself  was  forced  to  admit  that  the  State’s  attorney  had  not 
been  able  to  connect  me  with  the  bomb  throwing.  The  latter  knows  how  to 
get  around  it,  however.  He  charges  me  with  being  a  “conspirator.”  How 
does  he  prove  it?  Simply  by  declaring  the  International  Workingmen’s  As¬ 
sociation  to  be  a  “conspiracy.”  I  was  a  member  of  that  body,  so  he  has  the 
charge  securely  fastened  on  me.  Excellent !  Nothing  is  too  difficult  for  the 
genius  of  a  State’s  attorney ! 

It  is  hardly  incumbent  upon  me  to  review  the  relations  which  I  occupy  to 
my  companions  in  misfortune.  My  friend  Spies  has  already  explained  how 
we  became  acquainted  with  each  other.  I  can  say  truly  and  openly  that  I  am 
not  as  intimate  with  my  fellow  prisoners  as  I  am  with  Captain  Schaack. 

The  universal  misery,  the  ravages  of  the  capitalistic  hyena  have  brought 
us  together  in  our  agitation,  not  as  persons,  but  as  workers  in  the  same  cause. 
Such  is  the  “conspiracy”  of  which  you  have  convicted  me. 

I  protest  against  the  conviction,  against  the  decision  of  the  court.  I  do 
not  recognize  your  law,  jumbled  together  as  it  is  by  the  nobodies  of  by-gone 
centuries,  and  I  do  not  recognize  the  decision  of  the  court.  My  own  counsel 
have  conclusively  proven  from  the  decisions  of  equally  high  courts  that  a  new- 
trial  must  be  granted  us.  The  State’s  attorney  quotes  three  times  as  many 
decisions  from  perhaps  still  higher  courts  to  prove  the  opposite,  and  I  am 
convinced  that  if,  in  another  trial,  these  decisions  should  be  supported  by 
twenty-five  volumes,  they  will  adduce  one  hundred  in  support  of  the  contrary, 
if  it  is  Anarchists  who  are  to  be  tried.  And  not  even  under  such  a  law,  a 


SPEECH  OF  LOUIS  LINGG.  285 

law  that  a  schoolboy  must  despise,  not  even  by  such  methods  they  have  been 
able  to  “legally”  convict  us.  They  have  suborned  perjury  to  boot. 

I  tell  you  frankly  and  openly  I  am  for  force.  1  have  already  told  Captain 
Schaack,  “If  they  use  cannons  against  us,  we  shall  use  dynamite  against 
them.” 

I  repeat  that  I  am  the  enemy  of  the  “order”  of  to-day,  and  I  repeat  that, 
with  all  my  powers,  so  long  as  breath  remains  in  me,  I  shall  combat  it.  I 
declare  again,  frankly  and  openly,  that  I  am  in  favor  of  using  force.  I  have 
told  Captain  Schaack,  and  I  stand  by  it,  “If  you  cannonade  us,  we  shall 
dynamite  you.”  You  laugh.  Perhaps  you  think,  “You’ll  throw  no  more 
bombs ;”  but  let  me  assure  you  that  I  die  happy  on  the  gallows,  so  confident 
am  I  that  the  hundreds  and  thousands  to  whom  I  have  spoken  will  remember 
my  words ;  and  when  you  shall  have  hanged  me,  then,  mark  my  words,  they 
will  do  the  bomb  throwing!  In  this  hope  I  say  to  you:  I  despise  you.  I 
despise  your  order,  your  laws,  your  force-propped  authority.  Hang  me  for  it ! 

Louis  Lingg. 


ALTGELD’S  REASONS  FOR  PARDONING  FIELDEN,  NEEBE  AND 

SCHWAB. 


STATEMENT  OF  THE  CASE. 

On  the  night  of  May  4,  1886,  a  public  meeting  was  held  on  Haymarket 
Square  in  Chicago ;  there  were  from  800  to  1,000  people  present,  nearly  all 
being  laboring  men.  There  had  been  trouble,  growing  out  of  the  effort  to 
introduce  an  eight-hour  day,  resulting  in  some  collisions  with  the  police,  in 
one  of  which  several  laboring  people  were  killed,  and  this  meeting  was  called 
as  a  protest  against  alleged  police  brutality. 

The  meeting  was  orderly  and  was  attended  by  the  mayor,  who  remained 
until  the  crowd  began  to  disperse,  and  then  went  away.  As  soon  as  Capt. 
John  Bonfield,  of  the  police  department,  learned  that  the  mayor  had  gone,  he 
took  a  detachment  of  police  and  hurried  to  the  meeting  for  the  purpose  of 
dispersing  the  few  that  remained,  and  as  the  police  approached  the  place  of 
meeting  a  bomb  was  thrown  by  some  unknown  person,  which  exploded  and 
wounded  many  and  killed  several  policemen,  among  the  latter  being  one 
Mathias  Degan.  A  number  of  people  were  arrested,  and  after  a  time  August 
Spies,  Albert  R.  Parsons,  Louis  Lingg,  Michael  Schwab,  Samuel  Fielden, 
George  Engel,  Adolph  Fischer  and  Oscar  Neebe  were  indicted  for  the  murder 
of  Mathias  Degan.  The  prosecution  could  not  discover  who  had  thrown  the 
bomb  and  could  not  bring  the  really  guilty  man  to  justice,  and,  as  some  of  the 
men  indicted  were  not  at  the  Haymarket  meeting  and  had  nothing  to  do  with 
it,  the  prosecution  was  forced  to  proceed  on  the  theory  that  the  men  indicted 
were  guilty  of  murder  because  it  was  claimed  they  had  at  various  times  in  the 
past  uttered  and  printed  incendiary  and  seditious  language,  practically 
advising  the  killing  of  policemen,  of  Pinkerton  men  and  others  acting  in  that 
capacity,  and  that  they  were  therefore  responsible  for  the  murder  of  Mathias 
Degan.  The  public  was  greatly  excited,  and  after  a  prolonged  trial  all  the 
defendants  were  found  guilty;  Oscar  Neebe  was  sentenced  to  fifteen  years 
imprisonment  and  all  of  the  other  defendants  were  sentenced  to  be  hanged. 
The  case  was  carried  to  the  Supreme  Court  and  was  there  affirmed  in  the  fall 
of  1887.  Soon  thereafter  Lingg  committed  suicide.  The  sentence  of  Fielden 
and  Schwab  was  commuted  to  imprisonment  for  life,  and  Parsons,  Fischer, 
Engel  and  Spies  were  hanged,  and  the  petitioners  now  ask  to  have  Neebe, 
Fielden  and  Schwab  set  at  liberty. 

The  several  thousand  merchants,  bankers,  judges,  lawyers  and  other 
prominent  citizens  of  Chicago  who  have  by  petition,  by  letter  and  in  other 


286 


Governor  John  P.  Altgeld. 


. 


■ 


,  ' 


FOR  PARDONING  FIELDEN,  NEEBE  AND  SCHWAB. 


287 


ways  urged  executive  clemency,  mostly  base  their  appeal  on  the  ground  that, 
assuming  the  prisoners  to  be  guilty,  they  have  been  punished  enough ;  but  a 
number  of  them  who  have  examined  the  case  more  carefully  and  are  more 
familiar  with  the  record  and  with  the  facts  disclosed  by  the  papers  on  file, 
base  their  appeal  on  entirely  different  grounds.  They  assert : 

First — That  the  jury  which  tried  the  case  was  a  packed  jury  selected  to 
convict. 

Second — That,  according  to  the  law  as  laid  down  by  the  Supreme  Court, 
both  prior  to  and  again  since  the  trial  of  this  case,  the  jurors,  according  to 
their  own  answers,  were  not  competent  jurors,  and  the  trial  was  therefore 
not  a  legal  trial. 

Third — That  the  defendants  were  not  proven  to  be  guilty  of  the  crime 
charged  in  the  indictment. 

Fourth — That  as  to  the  defendant  Neebe,  the  State’s  attorney  had  declared 
at  the  close  of  the  evidence  that  there  was  no  case  against  him,  and  yet  he 
has  been  kept  in  prison  all  these  years. 

Fifth — That  the  trial  judge  was  either  so  prejudiced  against  the  defend¬ 
ants,  or  else  so  determined  to  win  the  applause  of  a  certain  class  in  the  com¬ 
munity,  that  he  could  not  and  did  not  grant  a  fair  trial. 

Upon  the  question  of  having  been  punished  enough,  I  will  simply  say  that 
if  the  defendants  had  a  fair  trial,  and  nothing  has  developed  since  to  show 
that  they  were  not  guilty  of  the  crime  charged  in  the  indictment,  then  there 
ought  to  be  no  executive  interference,  for  no  punishment  under  our  laws  could 
then  be  too  severe.  Government  must  defend  itself;  life  and  property  must 
be  protected,  and  law  and  order  must  be  maintained ;  murder  must  be  pun¬ 
ished,  and  if  the  defendants  are  guilty  of  murder,  either  committed  by  their 
own  hand's  or  by  some  one  else  acting  on  their  advice,  then,  if  they  have  had 
a  fair  trial,  there  should  be  in  this  case  no  executive  interference.  The  soil 
of  America  is  not  adopted  to  the  growth  of  Anarchy.  While  our  institutions 
are  not  free  from  injustice,  they  are  still  the  best  that  have  yet  been  devised, 
and  therefore  must  be  maintained. 

I.  WAS  THE  JURY  PACKED? 

The  record  of  the  trial  shows  that  the  jury  in  this  case  was  not  drawn  in 
the  manner  that  juries  usually  are  drawn;  that  is,  instead  of  having  a  num¬ 
ber  of  names  drawn  out  of  a  box  that  contained  many  hundred  names,  as  the 
law  contemplates  shall  be  done  in  order  to  insure  a  fair  jury  and  give  neither 
side  the  advantage,  the  trial  judge  appointed  one  Henry  L.  Ryce  as  a  special 
bailiff  to  go  out  anfd  summon  such  men  as  he  (Ryce)  might  select  to  act  as 
jurors.  While  this  practice  has  been  sustained  in  cases  in  which  it  did  not 
appear  that  either  side  had  been  prejudiced  thereby,  it  is  always  a  dangerous 
practice,  for  it  gives  the  bailiff  absolute  power  to  select  a  jury  that  will  be 
favorable  to  one  side  or  the  other.  Counsel  for  the  State,  in  their  printed 


288 


altgeld's  reasons 

brief,  say  that  Ryce  was  appointed  on  motion  of  defendants.  While  it  appears 
that  counsel  for  the  defendants  were  in  favor  of  having  some  one  appointed, 
the  record  has  this  entry: 

“Mr.  Grinnell  (the  State’s  attorney)  suggested  Mr.  Ryce  as  special  bailiff, 
and  he  was  accepted  and  appointed.”  B.ut  it  makes  no  difference  on  whose 
motion  he  was  appointed  if  he  did  not  select  a  fair  jury.  It  is  s-hown  that  he 
boasted  while  selecting  jurors  that  he  was  managing  this  case;  that  these 
fellows  would  hang  as  certain  as  death ;  that  he  was  calling  such  men  as  the 
defendants  would  have  to  challenge  peremptorily  and  waste  their  challenges 
on,  and  that  when  their  challenges  were  exhausted  they  would  have  to  take 
such  men  as  the  prosecution  wanted.  It  appears  from  the  record  of  the  trial 
that  the  defendants  were  obliged  to  exhaust  all  of  their  peremptory  challenges, 
and  they  had  to  take  a  jury,  almost  every  member  of  which  stated  frankly 
that  he  was  prejudiced  against  them.  On  page  133  of  volume  I  of  the  record 
it  appears  that  when  the  panel  was  about  two-thirds  full,  counsel  for  defend¬ 
ants  called  attention  of  the  court  to  the  fact  that  Ryce  was  summoning  only 
prejudiced  men,  as  shown  by  their  examinations.  Further:  That  he  was 
confining  himself  to  particular  classes ;  i.  e.,  clerks,  merchants,  manufacturers, 
etc.  Counsel  for  defendants  then  moved  the  court  to  stop  this  and  direct 
Ryce  to  summon  the  jurors  from  the  body  of  the  people;  that  is,  from  the 
community  at  large,  and  not  from  particular  classes ;  but  the  court  refused  to 
take  any  notice  of  the  matter. 

For  the  purpose  of  still  further  showing  the  misconduct  of  Bailiff  Ryce 
reference  is  made  to  the  affidavit  of  Otis  S.  Favor.  Mr.  Favor  is  one  of  the 
most  reputable  and  honorable  business  men  in  Chicago ;  he  was  himself  sum¬ 
moned  by  Ryce  as  a  juror,  but  was  so  prejudiced  against  the  defendants  that 
he  had  to  be  excused,  and  he  abstained  from  making  any  affidavit  before  sen¬ 
tence  because  the  State’s  attorney  had  requested  him  not  to  make  it,  although 
he  stood  ready  to  go  into  court  and  tell  what  he  knew  if ‘the  court  wished  him 
to  do  so,  and  he  naturally  supposed  he  would  be  sent  for.  But  after  the  Su¬ 
preme  Court  had  passed  on  the  case  and  some  of  the  defendants  were  about 
to  be  hanged  he  felt  that  an  injustice  was  being  done  and  he  made  the  fol¬ 
lowing  affidavit : 

State  of  Illinois,  Cook  County. — ss. : 

Otis  S.  Favor,  being  duly  sworn,  on  oath  says  that  he  is  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States  and  of  the  Stjate  of  Illinois,  residing  in  Chicago,  and  a  merchant 
doing  business  at  Nos.  6  and  8  Wabash  avenue,  in  the  city  of  Chicago,  in  said 
county.  That  he  is  very  well  acquainted  with  Henry  L.  Ryce,  of  Cook  county, 
Illinois,  who  acted  as  special  bailiff  in  summoning  jurors  in  the  case  of  The 
People,  etc.,  vs.  Spies  et  ah,  indictment  for  murder,  tried  in  the  Criminal 
Court  of  Cook  county,  in  the  summer  of  1886.  That  affiant  was  himself  sum¬ 
moned  by  said  Ryce  for  a  juror  in  said  cause,  but  was  challenged  and  excused 


Samuel  Fielden. 


289 


FOR  PARDONING  FIELDEN,  NEEBE  AND  SCHWAB. 

therein  because  of  his  prejudice.  That  on  several  occasions  in  conversation 
between  affiant  and  said  Ryce  touching  the  summoning  of  the  jurors  by  said 
Ryce,  and  while  said  Ryce  was  so  acting  as  special  bailiff  as  aforesaid,  said 
Ryce  said  to  this  affiant  and  to  other  persons  in  affiant’s  presence,  in  sub¬ 
stance  and  effect  as  follows,  to-wit:  “I  (meaning  said  Ryce)  am  managing 
this  case  (meaning  this  case  against  Spies  et  al.)  and  know  what  I  am  about. 
Those  fellows  (meaning  the  defendants,  Spies  et  al.)  are  going  to  be  hanged  as 
certain  as  death.  I  am  calling  such  men  as  the  defendants  will  have  to  chal¬ 
lenge  peremptorily  and  waste  their  time  and  challenges.  Then  they  will  have 
to  take  such  men  as  the  prosecution  wants.”  That  affiant  has  been  very 
reluctant  to  make  any  affidavit  in  this  case,  having  no  sympathy  with  Anarchy 
nor  relationship  to  or  personal  interest  in  the  defendants  or  any  of  them,  and 
not  being  a  Socialist,  Communist  or  Anarchist ;  but  affiant  has  an  interest  as 
a  citizen,  in  the  due  administration  of  the  law,  and  that  no  injustice  should 
be  done  under  judicial  procedure,  and  believes  that  jurors  should  not  be 
selected  with  reference  to  their  known  views  or  prejudices.  Affiant  further 
says  that  his  personal  relations  with  said  Ryce  were  at  said  time,  and  for 
many  years  theretofore,  had  been  most  friendly  and  even  intimate,  and  that 
affiant  is  not  prompted  by  any  ill  will  toward  any  one  in  making  this  affidavit, 
but  solely  by  a  sense  of  duty  and  a  conviction  of  what  is  due  to  justice. 

Affiant  further  says  that  about  the  beginning  of  October,  18 86,  when  the 
motion  for  a  new  trial  was  being  argued  in  said  cases  before  Judge  Gary,  and 
when,  as  he  was  informed,  application  was  made  before  Judge  Gary  for  leave 
to  examine  affiant  in  open  court,  touching  the  matters  above  stated,  this  affi¬ 
ant  went,  upon  request  of  State’s  Attorney  Grinnell,  to  his  office  during  the 
noon  recess  of  the  court  and  there  held  an  interview  with  said  Grinnell,  Mr. 
Ingham  and  said  Ryce,  in  the  presence  of  several  other  persons,  including 
some  police  officers,  where  affiant  repeated  substantially  the  matters  above 
stated,  and  the  said  Ryce  did  not  deny  affiant’s  statements,  and  affiant  said 
he  would  have  to  testify  thereto  if  summoned  as  a  witness,  but  had  refused  to 
make  an  affidavit  thereto,  and  affiant  was  then  and  there  asked  and  urged  to 
persist  in  his  refusal  and  to  make  no  affidavit.  And  affiant  further  saith  not. 

Otis  S.  Favor, 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  7th  day  of  November,  A.  D.  1887. 

Julius  Stern, 

Notary  Public  in  and  for  said  County. 

So  far  as  shown  no  one  connected  with  the  State’s  attorney’s  office  has 
ever  denied  the  statements  of  Mr.  Favor  as  to  what  took  place  in  that  office, 
although  his  affidavit  was  made  in  November,  1887. 

As  to  Bailiff  Ryce,  it  appears  that  he  has  made  an  affidavit  in  which  he 
denies  that  he  made  the  statements  sworn  to  by  Mr.  Favor,  but  unfortunately 
for  him,  the  record  of  the  trial  is  against  him,  for  it  shows  conclusively  that 


290 


altgeld’s  reasons 


he  summoned  only  the  class  of  men  mentioned  in  Mr.  Favors  affidavit.  Ac¬ 
cording  to  the  record,  981  men  were  examined  as  to  their  qualifications  as 
jurors,  and  most  of  them  were  either  employers,  or  men  who  had  been  pointed 
out  to  the  bailiff  by  their  employer.  The  following,  taken  from  the  original 
record  of  the  trial,  are  fair  specimens  of  the  answers  of  nearly  all  the  jurors, 
except  that  in  the  following  cases  the  court  succeeded  in  getting  the  jurors  to 
say  that  they  believed  they  could  try  the  case  fairly  notwithstanding  their 
prejudices. 

EXAMINATION  OF  JURORS. 

William  Neil,  a  manufacturer,  was  examined  at  length;  stated  that  he 
had  heard  and  read  about  the  Haymarket  trouble,  and  believed  enough  of 
what  he  had  so  heard  and  read  to  form  an  opinion  as  to  the  guilt  of  the  de¬ 
fendants,  which  he  still  entertained ;  that  he  had  expressed  said  opinion,  and 
then  he  added :  “It  would  take  pretty  strong  evidence  to  remove  the  impres¬ 
sion  that  I  now  have.  I  could  not  dismiss  it  from  my  mind ;  could  not  lay  it 
altogether  aside  during  the  trial.  I  believe  my  present  opinion,  based  upon 
what  he  had  so  heard  and  read  to  form  an  opinion  as  to  the  guilt  of  the  de- 
would  influence  me  in  determining  and  getting  at  a  verdict.” 

He  was  challenged  by  the  defendants  on  the  ground  of  being  prejudiced, 
but  the  court  then  got  him  to  say  that  he  believed  he  could  give  a  fair  verdict 
on  whatever  evidence  he  should  hear,  and  thereupon  the  challenge  was  over¬ 
ruled. 

H.  F.  Chandler,  in  the  stationery  business  with  Skeen,  Stuart  &  Co.,  said : 
“I  was  pointed  out  to  the  deputy  sheriff  by  my  employer  to  be  summoned  as 
a  juror.”  He  then  stated  that  he  had  read  and  talked  about  the  Haymarket 
trouble,  and  had  formed  and  frequently  expressed  an  opinion  as  to  the  guilt 
of  the  defendants,  and  that  he  believed  the  statements  he  had  read  and  heard. 
Fie  was  asked : 

Q.  Is  that  a  decided  opinion  as  to  the  guilt  of  the  defendants? 

A.  It  is  a  decided  opinion;  yes,  sir. 

Q.  Your  mind  is  pretty  well  made  up  now  as  to  their  guilt  or  innocence? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Would  it  be  hard  to  change  your  opinion, 

A.  It  might  be  hard;  I  cannot  say.  I  don’t  know  whether  it  would  be 
hard  or  not. 

He  was  challenged  by  the  defendants  on  the  ground  of  being  prejudiced. 
Then  the  court  took  him  in  hand  and  examined  him  at  some  length,  and  got 
him  to  state  that  he  believed  he  could  try  the  case  fairly.  Then  the  challenge 
was  overruled. 

F.  L.  Wilson:  Am  a  manufacturer.  Am  prejudiced  and  have  formed  and 
expressed  an  opinion ;  that  opinion  would  influence  me  in  rendering  a  verdict. 

He  was  challenged  for  cause,  but  was  then  examined  by  the  court. 

Q.  Are  you  conscious  in  your  own  mind  of  any  wish  or  desire  that  there 


291 


FOR  PARDONING  FIELDEN,  NEEBE  AND  SCHWAB. 

should  be  evidence  produced  in  this  trial  which  should  prove  some  of  these 
men,  or  any  of  them,  to  be  guilty? 

A.  Well,  I  think  I  have. 

Being  further  pressed  by  the  court,  he  said  that  the  only  feeling  he  had 
against  the  defendants  was  based  upon  having  taken  it  for  granted  that  what 
he  read  about  them  was,  in  the  main,  true;  that  he  believed  that  sitting  as  a 
juror  the  effect  of  the  evidence  either  for  or  against  the  defendants  would  be 
increased  or  diminished  by  what  he  had  heard  or  read  about  the  case.  Then 
on  being  still  further  pressed  by  the  court,  he  finally  said :  “Well,  I  feel  that 
I  hope  that  the  guilty  one  will  be  discovered  or  punished — not  necessarily 
these  men.” 

Q.  Are  you  conscious  of  any  other  wish  or  desire  about  the  matter  than 
that  the  actual  truth  may  be  discovered? 

A.  I  don’t  think  I  am. 

Thereupon  the  challenge  was  overruled. 

George  N.  Porter,  grocer,  testified  that  he  had  formed  and  expressed  an 
opinion  as  to  the  guilt  of  the  defendants,  and  that  this  opinion  he  thought, 
would  bias  his  judgment;  he  would  try  to  go  by  the  evidence,  but  what  he 
had  read  would  have  a  great  deal  to  do  with  his  verdict;  his  mind,  he  said, 
was  certainly  biased  now,  and  that  it  would  take  a  great  deal  of  evidence  to 
change  it.  He  was  challenged  for  cause  by  the  defendants;  was  examined  by 
the  court  and  said : 

“I  think  what  I  have  heard  and  read  before  I  came  into  court  would  have 
some  influence  with  me.”  But  the  court  finally  got  him  to  say  he  believed  he 
could  fairly  and  impartially  try  the  case  and  render  a  verdict  according  to  law 
and  evidence,  and  that  he  would  try  to  do  so.  Thereupon  the  court  overruled 
the  challenge  for  cause.  Then  he  was  asked  some  more  questions  by  defend¬ 
ants’  counsel,  and  among  other  things  said : 

“Why,  we  have  talked  about  it  there  a  great  many  times  and  I  have  always 
expressed  my  opinion.  I  believe  what  I  have  read  in  the  papers ;  believe  that 
the  parties  are  guilty.  I  would  try  to  go  by  the  evidence,  but  in  this  case  it 
would  be  awful  hard  work  for  me  to  do  it.” 

He  was  challenged  a  second  time  on  the  ground  of  being  prejudiced;  was 
then  again  taken  in  hand  by  the  court  and  examined  at  length,  and  finally 
again  said  he  believed  he  could  try  the  case  fairly  on  the  evidence,  when  the 
challenge  for  cause  was  overruled  for  the  second  time. 

H.  N.  Smith,  hardware  merchant,  stated  among  other  things  that  he  was 
prejudiced  and  had  quite  a  decided  opinion  as  to  the  guilt  or  innocence  of  the 
defendants ;  that  he  had  expressed  his  opinion  and  still  entertained  it,  and 
candidly  stated  that  he  was  afraid  he  would  listen  a  little  more  attentively  to 
the  testimony  which  concurred  with  his  opinion  than  the  testimony  on  the 
other  side;  that  some  of  the  policemen  injured  were  personal  friends  qf  his. 
He  was  asked  these  questions : 


29  2 


altgeld's  reasons 


Q.  That  is,  you  would  be  willing  to  have  your  opinion  strengthened,  and 
hate  very  much  to  have  it  dissolved? 

A.  I  would. 

Q.  Under  these  circumstances  do  you  think  that  you  could  render  a  fair 
and  impartial  verdict? 

A.  I  don’t  think  I  could. 

Q.  You  think  you  would  be  prejudiced? 

A.  I  think  I  would  be,  because  my  feelings  are  very  bitter. 

Q.  Would  your  prejudice  in  any  way  influence  you  in  coming  at  an  opin¬ 
ion,  in  arriving  at  a  verdict? 

A.  I  think  it  would. 

He  was  challenged  on  the  ground  of  being  prejudiced,  was  interrogated  at 
length  by  the  court,  and  was  brought  to  say  he  believed  he  could  try  the  case 
fairly  on  the  evidence  produced  in  court.  Then  the  challenge  was  overruled. 

Leonard  Gould,  wholesale  grocer,  was  examined  at  length ;  said  he  had  a 
decided  prejudice  against  the  defendants.  Among  other  things,  he  said:  “I 
really  don’t  know  that  I  could  do  the  case  justice;  if  I  was  to  sit  on  the  case  I 
should  just  give  my  undivided  attention  to  the  evidence  and  calculate  to  be 
governed  by  that.”  He  was  challenged  for  cause  and  the  challenge  overruled. 
He  was  then  asked  the  question  over  again,  whether  he  could  render  an  impar¬ 
tial  verdict  based  upon  the  evidence  alone,  that  would  be  produced  in  court, 
and  he  answered:  “Well,  I  answered  that,  as  far  as  I  could  answer  it.” 

Q.  You  say  you  don’t  know  that  you  can  answer  that,  either  yes  or  no? 

A.  No,  I  don’t  know  that  I  can. 

Thereupon  the  court  proceeded  to  examine  him,  endeavoring  to  get  him 
to  state  that  he  believed  he  could  try  the  case  fairly  upon  the  evidence  that 
was  produced  in  court,  part  of  the  examination  being  as  follows : 

Q.  Now,  do  you  believe  that  you  can — that  you  have  sufficiently  reflected 
upon  it — so  as  to  examine  your  own  mind,  that  you  can  fairly  and  impartially 
determine  the  guilt  or  innocence  of  the  defendants? 

A.  That  is  a  difficult  question  for  me  to  answer. 

Q.  Well,  make  up  your  mind  as  tb  whether  you  can  render,  fairly  and 
impartially  render,  a  verdict  in  accordance  with  the  law  and  the  evidence. 
Most  men  in  business  possibly  have  not  gone  through  a  metaphysical  examina¬ 
tion  so  as  to  be  prepared  to  answer  a  question  of  this  kind. 

A.  Judge,  I  don’t  believe  I  can  answer  that  question. 

Q.  Can  you  answer  whether  you  believe  you  know? 

A.  If *1  had  to  do  that  I  should  do  the  best  I  could. 

Q.  The  question  is  whether  you  believe  you  could  or  not.  I  suppose, 
Mr.  Gould,  that  you  know  the  law  is  that  no  man  is  to  be  convicted  of  any 
offense  with  which  he  is  charged,  unless  the  evidence  proves  that  he  is  guilty 
beyond  a  reasonable  doubt? 

A.  That  is  true. 


293 


FOR  PARDONING  FIELDEN,  NEEBE  AND  SCHWAB. 

Q.  The  evidence  heard  in  this  case  in  court? 

A.  Yes. 

Q.  Do  you  believe  that  you  can  render  a  verdict  in  accordance  with 
the  law? 

A.  Well,  I  don’t  know  that  I  could. 

Q.  Do  you  believe  that  you  can’t — if  you  don’t  know  of  any  reason  why 
you  cannot,  do  you  believe  that  you  can’t? 

A.  I  cannot  answer  that  question. 

Q.  Have  you  a  belief  one  way  or  other  as  to  whether  you  can  or  cannot? 
Not  whether  you  are  going  to  do  it,  but  do  you  believe  you  cannot?  That 
is  the  only  thing.  You  are  not  required  to  state  what  is  going  to  happen  next 
week  or  week  after,  but  what  do  you  believe  about  yourself,  whether  you  can 
or  can’t. 

A.  I  am  about  where  I  was  when  I  started. 

Some  more  questions  were  asked  and  Mr.  Gould  answered*. 

Well,  I  believe  I  have  gone  just  as  far  as  I  can  in  reply  to  that  question. 

Q.  This  question,  naked  and  simple  in  itself  is,  do'  you  believe  that  you 
can  fairly  and  impartially  render  a  verdict  in  the  case  in  accordance  with  the 
law  and  evidence? 

A.  I  believe  I  could. 

Having  finally  badgered  the  juror  into  giving  this  last  answer,  the  court 
desisted.  The  defendants’  counsel  asked : 

Do  you  believe  you  can  do  so,  uninfluenced  by  any  prejudice  or  opinion 
which  you  now  have? 

A.  You  bring  it  at  a  point  that  I  object  to  and  I  do  not  feel  competent 
to  answer. 

Thereupon  the  juror  was  challenged  a  second  time  for  cause,  and  the 
challenge  was  overruled. 

James  H.  Walker,  dry  goods  merchant,  stated  that  he  had  formed  and 
expressed  an  opinion  as  to  the  guilt  of  defendants;  that  he  was  prejudiced, 
and  that  his  prejudice  would  handicap  him. 

Q.  Considering  all  prejudice  and  all  opinions  you  have,  if  the  testimony 
was  equally  balanced,  would  you  decide  one  way  or  the  other  in  accordance 
with  that  opinion  or  your  prejudice? 

A.  If  the  testimony  was  equally  balanced  I  should  hold  my  present 
opinion,  sir. 

Q.  Assuming  that  your  present  opinion  is,  that  you  believe  the  defend¬ 
ants  guilty,  would  you  believe  your  present  opinion  would  warrant  you  in 
convicting  them? 

A.  I  presume  it  would. 

Q.  Well,  you  believe  it  would;  that  is  your  present  belief,  is  it? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

He  was  challenged  on  the  ground  of  prejudice. 


294  ALTGELD^S  REASONS 

The  court  then  examined  him  at  length,  and  finally  asked : 

Q.  Do  you  believe  that  you  can  sit  here  and  fairly  and  impartially  make 
up  your  mind,  from  the  evidence,  whether  that  evidence  proves  that  they  are 
guilty  beyond  a  reasonable  doubt  or  not? 

A.  I  think  I  could,  but  I  should  believe  that  I  was  a  little  handicapped 
in  my  judgment,  sir. 

Thereupon  the  court,  in  the  presence  of  the  jurors  not  yet  examined, 
remarked : 

Well,  that  is  a  sufficient  qualification  for  a  juror  in  the  case;  of  course, 
the  more  a  man  feels  that  he  is  handicapped  the  more  he  will  be  guarded 
against  it. 

W.  B.  Allen,  wholesale  rubber  business,  stated  among  other  things : 

Q.  I  will  ask  you  whether  what  you  have  formed  from  what  you  have 
read  and  heard  is  a  slight  impression,  or  an  opinion,  or  a  conviction. 

A.  It  is  a  decided  conviction. 

Q.  You  have  made  up  your  mind  as  to  whether  these  men  are  guilty  or 
innocent? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  It  would  be  difficult  to  change  that  conviction,  or  impossible,  perhaps? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  It  would  be  impossible  to  change  your  conviction? 

A.  It  would  be  hard  to  change  my  conviction. 

He  was  challenged  for  cause  by  defendants.  Then  he  was  examined  by 
the  court  at  length  and  finally  brought  to  the  point  of  saying  that  he  could 
try  the  case  fairly  and  impartially,  and  would  do  so.  Then  the  challenge  for 
cause  was  overruled. 

H.  L.  Anderson  was  examined  at  length,  and  stated  that  he  had  formed 
and  expressed  an  opinion,  still  held  it,  was  prejudiced, 'but  that  he  could  lay 
aside  his  prejudices  and  grant  a  fair  trial  upon  the  evidence.  On  being  fur¬ 
ther  examined,  he  said  that  some  of  the  policemen  injured  were  friends  of  his 
and  he  had  talked  with  them  fully.  He  had  formed  an  unqualified  opinion  as 
to  the  guilt  or  innocence  of  the  defendants,  which  he  regarded  as  deep-seated, 
a  firm  conviction  that  these  defendants,  or  some  of  them,  were  guilty.  He 
was  challenged  on  the  ground  of  prejudice,  but  the  challenge  was  overruled. 

M.  D.  Flavin,  in  the  marble  business.  He  had  read  and  talked  about  the 
Haymarket  trouble,  and  had  formed  and  expressed  an  opinion  as  to  the  guilt 
or  innocence  of  the  defendants,  which  he  still  held  and  which  was  very  strong ; 
further,  that  one  of  the  officers  killed  at  the  Haymarket  was  a  relative  of  his, 
although  the  relationship  was  distant,  but  on  account  of  this  relationship  his 
feelings  were  perhaps  different  from  what  they  would  have  been,  and  occa¬ 
sioned  a  very  strong  opinion  as  to  the  guilt  of  the  defendants,  and  that  he  had 
stated  to  others  that  he  believed  what  he  had  heard  and  read  about  the  mat¬ 
ter.  He  was  challenged  on  the  ground  of  prejudice,  and  then  stated,  in  answer 


FOR  PARDONING  FIELDEN,  NEEBE  AND  SCHWAB.  295 

to  a  question  from  the  prosecution,  that  he  believed  that  he  could  give  a  fair 
and  impartial  verdict,  when  the  challenge/ was  overruled. 

THE  TWELVE  WHO  TRIED  THE  CASE. 

The  twelve  jurors  whom  the  defendants  were  finally  forced  to  accept, 
after  the  challenges  were  exhausted,  were  of  the  same  general  character  as  the 
others,  and  a  number  of  them  stated  candidly  that  they  were  so  prejudiced 
that  they  could  not  try  the  case  fairly,  but  each,  when  examined  by  the  court, 
was  finally  induced  to  say  that  he  believed  he  could  try  the  case  fairly  upon 
the  evidences  that  was  produced  in  court  alone.  For  example : 

Theodore  Denker,  one  of  the  twelve :  “Am  shipping  clerk  for  Henry  W. 
King  &  Co.  I  have  read  and  talked  about  the  Haymarket  tragedy,  and  have 
formed  and  expressed  an  opinion  as  to  the  guilt  or  innocence  of  the  defend¬ 
ants  of  the  crime  charged  in  the  indictment.  I  believe  what  I  read  and  heard, 
and  still  entertain  that  opinion.” 

Q.  Is  that  opinion  such  as  to  prevent  you  from  rendering  an  impartial 
verdict  in  the  case,  sitting  as  a  juror,  under  the  testimony  and  the  law? 

A.  I  think  it  is. 

He  was  challenged  for  cause  on  the  ground  of  prejudice.  Then  the  State’s 
attorney  and  the  court  examined  him  and  finally  got  him  to  say  that  he 
believed  he  could  try  the  case  fairly  on  the  law  and  the  evidence,  and  the 
challenge  was  overruled.  He  was  then  asked  further  questions  by  the  de¬ 
fendants’  counsel,  and  said : 

“I  have  formed  an  opinion  as  to  the  guilt  of  the  defendants  and  have 
expressed  it.  We  conversed  about  the  matter  in  the  business  house  and  I  ex¬ 
pressed  my  opinion  there;  expressed  my  opinion  quite  frequently.  My  mind 
was  made  up  from  what  I  read  and  I  did  not  hesitate  to  speak  about  it.” 

Q.  Would  you  feel  yourself  in  any  way  governed  or  bound  in  listening 
to  the  testimony  and  determining  it  upon  the  pre-judgment  of  the  case  that 
you  had  expressed  to  others  before? 

A.  Well,  that  is  a  pretty  hard  question  to  answer. 

He  then  stated  to  the  court  that  he  had  not  expressed  an  opinion  as  to 
the  truth  of  the  reports  he  had  read,  and  finally  stated  that  he  believed  he 
could  try  the  case  fairly  on  the  evidence. 

John  B.  Greiner,  another  one  of  the  twelve:  “Am  a  clerk  for  the  North¬ 
western  railroad.  I  have  heard  and  read  about  the  killing  of  Degan,  at  the 
Haymarket,  on  May  4,  last,  and  have  formed  an  opinion  as  to  the  guilt  or 
innocence  of  the  defendants  now  on  trial  for  that  crime.  It  is  evident  that 
the  defendants  are  connected  with  that  affair  from  their  being  there.” 

Q.  You  regard  that  as  evidence? 

A.  Well,  I  don’t  know  exactly.  Of  course  I  would  expect  that  it  con¬ 
nected  them  or  they  would  not  be  here. 


296 


altgeld's  reasons 


Q.  So,  then,  the  opinion  that  yon  now  have  has  reference  to  the  guilt  or 
innocence  of  some  of  these  men,  or  all  of  them? 

A.  Certainly. 

Q.  Now,  is  that  opinion  one  that  would  influence  your  verdict  if  you 
should  be  selected  as  a  juror  to  try  the  case? 

A.  I  certainly  think  it  would  affect  it  to  some  extent;  I  don’t  see  how  it 

could  be  otherwise. 

He  further  stated  that  there  had  been  a  strike  in  the  freight  department 

of  the  Northwestern  road,  which  affected  the  department  he  was  in.  After 

some  further  examination  he  stated  that  he  thought  he  could  try  the  case 
fairly  on  the  evidence,  and  was  then  held  to  be  competent. 

G.  W.  Adams,  also  one  of  the  twelve :  “Am  a  traveling  salesman ;  have 
been  an  employer  of  painters.  I  read  and  talked  about  the  Haymarket  trouble 
and  formed  an  opinion  as  to  the  nature  and  character  of  the  crime  committed 
there.  I  conversed  freely  with  my  friends  about  the  matter.” 

Q.  Did  you  form  an  opinion  at  the  time  that  the  defendants  were  con¬ 
nected  with  or  responsible  for  the  commission  of  that  crime? 

A.  I  thought  some  of  them  were  interested  in  it ;  yes. 

Q.  And  you  still  think  so? 

A.  Yes. 

Q.  Nothing  has  transpired  in  the  interval  to  change  your  mind  at  all,  I 
suppose. 

A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  You  say  some  of  them ;  that  is,  in  the  newspaper  accounts  that  you 
read,  the  names  of  some  of  the  defendants  were  referred  to? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

After  further  examination  he  testified  that  he  thought  he  could  try  the 
case  fairly  on  the  evidence. 

H.  T.  Sanford,  another  one  of  the  twelve;  Clerk  for  the  Northwestern 
railroad,  in  the  freight  auditor’s  office: 

Q.  Have  you  an  opinion  as  to  the  guilt  or  innocence  of  the  defendants  of 
the  murder  of  Mathias  J.  Degan? 

A.  I  have. 

Q.  From  all  that  you  have  heard  and  that  you  have  read,  have  you  an 
opinion  as  to  the  guilt  or  innocence  of  the  defendants  of  throwing  the  bomb? 

A.  Yes,  sir;  I  have. 

Q.  Have  you  a  prejudice  against  Socialists  and  Communists? 

A.  Yes,  sir;  a  decided  prejudice. 

Q.  Do  you  believe  that  that  prejudice  would  influence  your  verdict  in 
this  case? 

A.  Well,  as  I  know  so  little  about  it,  it  is  a  pretty  hard  question  to 
answer.  I  have  an  opinion  in  my  own  mind  that  the  defendants  encoui 
the  throwing  of  that  bomb. 


Michael  Schwab. 


/ 


FOR  PARDONING  FIELDEN,  NEEBE  AND  SCHWAB.  297 

Challenged  on  the  ground  of  prejudice. 

On  further  examination,  stated  he  believed  he  could  try  the  case  fairly 
upon  the  evidence,  and  the  challenge  for  cause  was  overruled. 

Upon  the  whole,  therefore,  considering  the  facts  brought  to  light  since 
the  trial,  as  well  as  the  record  of  the  trial  and  the  answers  of  the  jurors  as 
given  therein,  it  is  clearly  shown  that,  while  the  counsel  for  defendants  agreed 
to  it,  Ryce  was  appointed  special  bailiff  at  the  suggestion  of  the  State’s  attor¬ 
ney,  and  that  he  did  summon  a  prejudiced  jury  which  he  believed  would  hang 
the  defendants ;  and  further,  that  the  fact  that  Ryce  was  summoning  only  that 
kind  of  men  was  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  court  before  the  panel  was 
full,  and  it  was  asked  to  stop  it,  but  refused  to  pay  any  attention  to  the  mat¬ 
ter,  but  permitted  Ryce  to  go  on,  and  then  forced  the  defendants  to  go  to 
trial  before  this  jury. 

While  no  collusion  is  proven  between  the  judge  and  the  State’s  attorney, 
it  is  clearly  shown  that  after  the  verdict  and  while  a  motion  for  a  new  trial 
was  pending,  a  charge  was  filed  in  court  that  Ryce  had  packed  the  jury,  and 
that  the  attorney  for  the  State  got  Mr.  Favor  to  refuse  to  make  an  affidavit 
bearing  on  this  point,  which  the  defendants  could  use,  and  then  the  court 
refused  to  take  any  notice  of  it  unless  the  affidavit  was  obtained,  although  it 
was  informed  that  Mr.  Favor  would  not  make  an  affidavit,  but  stood  ready  to 
come  into  court  and  make  a  full  statement  if  the  court  desired  him  to  do  so-. 

These  facts  alone  would  call  for  executive  interference,  especially  as  Mr. 
Favor’s  affidavit  was  not  before  the  Supreme  Court  at  the  time  it  considered 
the  case. 

RECENT  DECISION  OF  THE  SUPREME  COURT  AS  TO  COMPETENCY  OF  JURORS. 

II. 

The  second  point  argued  seems  to  me  to  be  equally  conclusive.  .  In  the  case 
of  the  People  vs.  Coughlin,  known  as  the  Cronin  case,  recently  decided,  the 
Supreme  Court,  in  a  remarkably  able  and  comprehensive  review  of  the  law  on 
this  subject,  says,  among  other  things: 

“The  holdings  of  this  and  other  courts  is  substantially  uniform,  that  where 
it  is  once  clearly  shown  that  there  exists  in  the  mind  of  the  juror,  at  the  time 
he  is  called  to  the  jury  box,  a  fixed  and  positive  opinion  as  to  the  merits  of 
the  case,  or  as  to  the  guilt  or  innocence  of  the  defendant  he  is  called  to  try, 
his  statement  that,  notwithstanding  such  opinion,  he  can  render  a  fair  and  im¬ 
partial  verdict  according  to  the  law  and  evidence,  has  little,  if  any,  tendency 
to  establish  his  impartiality.  This  is  so' because  the  juror  who  has  sworn  to 
have  in  his  mind  a  fixed  and  positive  opinion  as  to  the  guilt  or  innocence  of 
the  accused,  is  not  impartial,  as  a  matter  of  fact.  *  *  * 

“It  is  difficult  to  see  how,  after  a  juror  has  avowed  a  fixed  and  settled  opin¬ 
ion  as  to  the  prisoner’s  guilt,  a  court  can  be  legally  satisfied  of  the  truth  of  his 


298 


ALTGELD^S  REASONS 


answer  that  he  can  render  a  fair  and  impartial  verdict,  or  find  therefrom  that 
he  has  the  qualification  of  impartiality,  as  required  by  the  constitution.  *  *  *  * 
“Under  such  circumstances,  it  is  idle  to  inquire  of  the  jurors  whether  they 
can  return  just  and  impartial  verdicts.  The  more  clear  and  positive  were  their 
impressions  of  guilt,  the  more  certain  they  may  be  that  they  can  act  impar¬ 
tially  in  condemning  the  guilty  party.  They  go  into  the  box  in  a  state  of  mind 
that  is  well  calculated  to  give  a  color  of  guilt  to  all  evidence,  and  if  the  ac¬ 
cused  escapes  conviction,  it  will  not  be  because  the  evidence  has  not  estab¬ 
lished  guilt  beyond  a  reasonable  doubt,  but  because  an  accused  party  con¬ 
demned  in  advance,  and  called  upon  to  exculpate  himself  before  a  prejudiced 
tribunal,  has  succeeded  in  doing  so.  *  *  *  *  . 

“To  try  a  cause  by  such  a  jury  is  to  authorize  men,  who  state  that  they  will 
lean  in  their  finding  against  one  of  the  parties,  unjustly  to  determine  the 
rights  of  others,  and  it  will  be  no  difficult  task  to  predict,  even  before  the  evi¬ 
dence  was  heard,  the  verdict  that  would  be  rendered.  Nor  can  it  be  said  that 
instructions  from  the  court  would  correct  the  bias  of  the  jurors  who  swear 
they  incline  in  favor  of  one  of  the  litigants.  *  *  % 

“Bontecou  (one  of  the  jurors  in  the  Cronin  case),  it  is  true,  was  brought  to 
make  answer  that  he  could  render  a  fair  and  impartial  verdict  in  accordance 
with  the  law  and  the  evidence,  but  that  result  was  reached  only  after  a  singu¬ 
larly  argumentative  and  persuasive  cross-examination  by  the  court,  in  which 
the  right  of  every  person  accused  of  crime  to  an  impartial  trial  and  to  the  pre¬ 
sumption  of  innocence  until  proved  guilty  beyond  a  reasonable  doubt,  and  the 
duty  of  every  citizen,  when  summoned  as  a  juror,  to  lay  aside  all  opinions  and 
prejudices  and  accord  the  accused  such  a  trial,  was  set  forth  and  descanted 
upon  at  length,  and  in  which  the  intimation  was  very  clearly  made  that  a  juror 
who  could  not  do  this  was  recreant  to  his  duty  as  a  man  and  a  citizen.  Under 
pressure  of  this  sort  of  cross-examination,  Bontecou  seems  to  have  been 
finally  brought  to  make  answer  in  such  a  way  as  to  profess  an  ability  to  sit  as 
an  impartial  juror,  and  on  his  so  answering  he  was  pronounced  competent 
and  the  challenge  as  to  him  was  overruled.  Whatever  may  be  the  weight  or¬ 
dinarily  due  to  statements  of  this  character  of  jurors,  their  value  as  evidence 
is  in  no  small  degree  impaired  in  this  case  by  the  mode  in  which  they  were,  in 
a  certain  sense,  forced  from  the  mouth  of  the  juror.  The  theory  seemed  to  be, 
that  if  a  juror  could  in  any  way  be  brought  to  answer  that  he  could  sit  as  an 
impartial  juror,  that  declaration  of  itself  rendered  him  competent.  Such  a 
view,  if  it  was  entertained,  was  a  total  misconception  of  the  law.  *  *  * 

“It  requires  no  profound  knowledge  of  human  nature  to  know  that  with 
ordinary  men  opinions  and  prejudices  are  not  amenable  to  the  power  of  the 
will,  however  honest  the  intention  of  the  party  may  be  to  put  them  aside.  They 
are  likely  to  remain  in  the  mind  of  the  juror  in  spite  of  all  his  efforts  to  get 
rid  of  them,  warping  and  giving  direction  to  his  judgment,  coloring  the  facts 
as  they  are  developed  by  the  evidence,  and  exerting  an  influence  more  or  less 


FOR  PARDONING  FIELDEN,  NEEBE  AND  SCHWAB.  299 

potent,  though  it  be  unconsciously  to  the  juror  himself,  on  the  final  result  of 
his  deliberations.  To  compel  a  person  accused  of  a  crime  to  be  tried  by  a 
juror  who  has  prejudiced  his  case  is  not  a  fair  trial.  Nor  should  a  defendant 
be  compelled  to  rely,  as  his  security  for  the  impartiality  of  the  jurors  by  whom 
he  is  to  be  tried,  upon  the  restraining  and  controlling  influence  upon  the  juror’s 
mind  of  his  oath  to  render  a  true  verdict  according  to  the  law  and  the  evi¬ 
dence.  His  impartiality  should  appear  before  he  is  permitted  to  take  the  oath. 
If  he  is  not  impartial  then,  his  oath  cannot  be  relied  upon  to  make  him  so.  In 
the  terse  and  expressive  language  of  Lord  Coke,  already  quoted,  the  jury 
should  ‘stand  indifferent  as  he  stands  unsworn.’  ” 

Applying  the  law  as  here  laid  down  in  the  Cronin  case  to  the  answers  of  the 
jurors  above  given  in  the  present  case,  it  is  very  apparent  that  most  of  the 
jurors  were  incompetent  because  they  were  not  impartial,  for  nearly  all  ot  them 
candidly  stated  that  they  were  prejudiced  against  the  defendants,  and  believed 
them  guilty  before  hearing  the  evidence,  and  the  mere  fact  th&t  the  judge  suc¬ 
ceeded,  by  a  singularly  suggestive  examination,  in  getting  them  to  state  that 
they  believed  they  could  try  the  case  fairly  fair  on  the  evidence,  did  not  make 
them  competent. 

It  is  true  that  this  case  was  before  the  Supreme  Court,  and  that  court  al¬ 
lowed  the  verdict  to  stand ;  and  it  is  also  true  that  in  the  opinion  of  the  ma¬ 
jority  of  the  court  in  the  Cronin  case,  an  effort  is  made  to  distinguish  that 
case  from  this  one ;  but  it  is  evident  that  the  court  did  not  have  the  record  of 
this  case  before  it  when  it  tried  to  make  the  distinction,  and  the  opinion  of  the 
minority  of  the  court  in  the  Cronin  case  expressly  refers  to  this  case  as  being 
exactly  like  that  one,  so  far  as  relates  to  the  competency  of  the  jurors.  The 
answers  of  the  jurors  were  almost  identical  and  the  examinations  were  the 
same.  The  very  things  which  the  Supreme  Court  held  to  be  fatal  errors  in 
the  Cronin  c'ase,  constituted  the  entire  fabric  of  this  case,  so  far  as  relates  to 
the  competency  of  the  jury.  In  fact,  the  trial  judge  in  the  Cronin  case  was 
guided  by  the  rule  laid  down  in  this  case,  yet  the  Supreme  Court  reversed  the 
Cronin  case  because  two  of  the  jurors  were  held  to  be  incompetent,  each  hav¬ 
ing  testified  that  he  had  read  and  talked  about  the  case,  and  had  formed  and 
expressed  an  opinion  as  to  the  guilt  of  the  defendants;  that  he  was  prejudiced; 
that  he  believed  what  he  had  read,  and  that  his  prejudice  might  influence  his 
verdict;  that  his  prejudice  amounted  to  a  conviction  on  the  subject  of  the  guilt 
or  innocence  of  the  defendants ;  but  each  finally  said  that  he  could  and  would 
try  the  case  fairly  on  the  evidence  alone,  etc. 

A  careful  comparison  of  the  examination  of  these  two  jurors  with  that  of 
many  of  the  jurors  in  this  case  shows  that  a  number  of  the  jurors  expressed 
themselves,  if  anything,  more  strongly  against  the  defendants  than  these  two 
did;  and  what  is  still  more,  one  of  those  summoned,  Mr.  M.  D.  Flavin,  in  this 
case,  testified  not  only  that  he  had  read  and  talked  about  the  case,  and  had 
formed  and  expressed  an  opinion  as  to  the  guilt  or  innocence  of  the  defend- 


300 


altgeld's  reasons 

ants,  that  he  was  bitterly  prejudiced,  but  further,  that  he  was  related  to  one  of 
the  men  who  were  killed,  and  that  for  that  reason  he  felt  more  strongly  against 
the  defendants  than  he  otherwise  might,  yet  he  was  held  to  be  competent  on 
his  mere  statement  that  he  believed  he  could  try  the  case  fairly  on  the  evidence. 

No  matter  what  the  defendants  were  charged  with  they  were  entitled  to  a 
fair  trial,  and  no  greater  danger  could  possibly  threaten  our  institutions  than 
to  have  the  courts  of  justice  run  wild  or  give  way  to  popular  clamor ;  and*  when 
the  trial  judge  in  this  case  ruled  that  a  relative  of  one  of  the  men  who  was 
killed  was  a  competent  juror,  and  this  after  the  man  had  candidly  stated  that 
he  was  deeply  prejudiced,  and  that  his  relationship  caused  him  to  feel  more 
strongly  than  he  otherwise  might ;  and  when,  in  scores  of  in-stances,  he  ruled 
that  men  who  candidly  declared  that  they  believed  the  defendants  to  be  guilty, 
that  this  was  a  deep  conviction  and  would  influence  their  verdict,  and  that  it 
would  require  strong  evidence  to  convince  them  that  the  defendants  were  inno¬ 
cent;  when  in  all  these  instances  the  trial  judge  ruled  that  these  men  were 
competent  jurors,  simp-ly  because  they  had,  under  his  a’droit  manipulation,  been 
led  to  say  that  they  believed  they  could  try  the  case  fairly  on  the  evidence, 
then  the  proceedings  lost  all  semblance  of  a  fair  trial. 

III.  DOES  THE  PROOF  SHOW  GUILT ? 

The  State  has  never  discovered  who  it  was  that  threw  the  bomb  which 
killed  the  policeman,  and  the  evidence  does  not  show  any  connection  whatever 
between  the  defendants  and  the  man  who  did  throw  it.  The  trial  judge,  in 
overruling  the  motion  for  a  new  hearing,  and  again,  recently  in  a  magazine 
article,  used  this  language : 

“The  conviction  has  not  gone  on  the  gro*und  that  they  did  have  actually  any 
personal  participation  in  the  particular  act  which  caused  the  death  of  Degan, 
but  the  conviction  proceeds  upon  the  ground  that  they,  had  generally,  by 
speech  and  print,  advised  large  classes  of  the  people,  not  particular  indi- 
aividuals,  but  large  classes,  to  commit  murder,  and  had  left  the  commission, 
the  time  and  place  and  when,  to  the  individual  will  and  whim  or  caprice,  or 
whatever  it  may  be,  of  each  individual  man  who  listened  to  their  advice,  and 
that  in  consequence  of  that  advice,  in  pursuance  of  that  advice,  and  influenced 
by  that  advice,  somebody  not  known  did  throw  the  bomb  that  caused  Degan’s 
death.  Now,  if  this  is  not  a  correct  principle  of  the  law,  then  the  defendants 
of  course  are  entitled  to  a  new  trial.  This  case  is  without  a  precedent ;  there 
is  no  example  in  the  law  books  of  a  case  of  this  sort.” 

The  judge  certainly  told  the  truth  when  he  stated  that  this  case  was  with¬ 
out  a  precedent,  and  that  no  example  could  be  found  in  the  law  books  to  sus¬ 
tain  the  law  as  above  laid  down.  For,  in  all  the  centurfes  during  which  gov¬ 
ernment  has  been  maintained  among  men,  and  crime  has  been  punished,  no 
judge  in  a  civilized  country  has  ever  laid  down  such  a  rule  before.  The  peti¬ 
tioners  claim  that  it  was  laid  down  in  this  case  simply  because  the  prosecu- 


FOR  PARDONING  FIELDEN,  NEEBE  AND  SCHWAB. 


301 


tion,  not  having  discovered  the  real  criminal,  would  otherwise  not  have  been 
able  to  convict  anybody;  that  this  course  was  then  taken  to  appease  the  fury 
of  the  public,  and  that  the  judgment  was  allowed  to  stand  for  the  same  reason. 
I  will  not  discuss  this.  But  taking  the  law  as  above  laid  down,  it  was  neces¬ 
sary  under  it  to  prove,  and  that  beyond  a  reasonable  doubt,  that  the  person 
committing  the  violent  deed  had  at  least  heard  or  read  the  advice  given  to  the 
masses,  for  until  he  either  heard  or  read  it  he  did  not  receive  it,  and  if  he  did 
not  receive  it,  he  did  not  commit  the  violent  act  in  pursuance  of  that  advice ; 
and  it  is  here  that  the  case  for  the  State  fails ;  with  all  his  apparent  eagerness 
to  force  conviction  in  court,  and  his  efforts  in  defending  his  course  since  the 
trial,  the  judge,  speaking  on  this  point  in  his  magazine  article,  makes  this 
statement :  “It  is  probably  true  that  Rudolph  Schnaubelt  threw  the  bomb,” 
which  statement  is  merely  a  surmise  and  is  all  that  is  known  about  it,  and  is 
certainly  not  sufficient  to  convict  eight  men  on.  In  fact,  until  the  State  proves 
from  whose  hands  the  bomb  came,  it  is  impossible  to  show  any  connection 
between  the  man  who  threw  it  and  these  defendants. 

It  is  further  shown  that  the  mass  of  matter  contained  in  the  record  and 
quoted  at  length  in  the  judge’s  magazine  article,  showing  the  use  of  seditious 
and  incendiary  language,  amounts  to  but  little  when  its  source  is  considered. 
The  two  papers  in  which  articles  appeared  at  intervals  during  years,  were 
obscure  little  sheets,  having  scarcely  any  circulation,  and  the  articles  them¬ 
selves  were  written  at  times  of  great  public  excitement,  when  an  element  in 
the  community  claimed  to  have  been  outraged ;  and  the  same  is  true  of  the 
speeches  made  by  the  defendants  and  others ;  the  apparently  seditious  utter¬ 
ances  were  such  as  are  always  heard  when  men  imagine  that  they  have  been 
wronged,  or  are  excited  or  partially  intoxicated;  and  the  talk  of  a  gigantic 
Anarchistic  conspiracy  is  not  believed  by  the  then  chief  of  police,  as  will  be 
shown  hereafter,  and  it  is  not  entitled  to  serious  notice,  in  view  of  the  fact 
that,  while  Chicago  had  nearly  a  million  inhabitants,  the  meetings  held  on 
the  lake  front  on  Sundays  during  the  summer,  by  these  agitators,  rarely  had 
fifty  people  present,  and  the  most  of  these  went  from  mere  curiosity,  while 
the  meetings  held  indoors,  during  the  winter,  were  still  smaller.  The  meet¬ 
ings  held  from  time  to  time  by  the  masses  of  the  laboring  people,  must  not 
be  confounded  with  the  meetings  above  named,  although  in  times  of  excite¬ 
ment  and  trouble  much  violent  talk  was  indulged  in  by  irresponsible  parties; 
which  was  forgotten  when  the  excitement  was  over. 

Again,  it  is  shown  here  that  the  bomb  was,  in  all  probability,  thrown  by 
some  one  seeking  personal  revenge ;  that  a  course  had  been  pursued  by  the 
authorities  which  would  naturally  cause  this;  that  for  a  number  of  years  prior 
to  the  Haymarket  affair  there  had  been  labor  troubles,  and  in  several  cases  a 
number  of  laboring  people,  guilty  of  no  offense,  had  been  shot  down  in  cold 
blood  by  Pinkerton  men,  and  none  of  the  murderers  were  brought  to’  justice. 
The  evidence  taken  at  coroners’  inquests  and  presented  here,  shows  that  in  at 


302 


altgeld's  reasons 


least  two  cases  men  were  fired  oil  and  killed  when  they  were  running  away, 
and  there  was  consequently  no  occasion  to  shoot,  yet  nobody  was  punished ; 
that  in  Chicago  there  had  been  a  number  of  strikes  in  which  some  o-f  the 
police  not  only  took  sides  against  the  men,  but  without  any  authority  of  law 
invaded  and  broke  up  peaceable  meetings,  and  in  scores  of  cases  brutally 
clubbed  people  who  were  guilty  of  no  offense  whatever.  Reference  is  made  to 
the  opinion  of  the  late  Judge  McAllister,  in  the  case  of  the  Harmonia  Associa^ 
tion  of  Joiners  against  Brenan,  et  al.,  reported  in  the  Chicago  Legal  News. 
Among  other  things,  Judge  McAllister  says : 

“The  facts  established  by  a  large  number  of  witnesses,  and  without  any 
opposing  evidence,  are,  that  this  society,  having  leased  Turner  Hall,  on  Wbst 
Twelfth  street,  for  the  purpose,  held  a  meeting  in  the  forenoon  of  said  day,  in 
said  hall,  composed  of  from  200  to  300  individuals,  most  of  whom  were  jour¬ 
neymen  cabinet-makers  engaged  in  the  several  branches  of  the  manufacture 
of  furniture  in  Chicago,  but  some  of  those  in  attendance  were  the  proprietors 
in  that  business,  or  the  delegates  sent  by  them.  The  object  of  the  meeting 
was  to  obtain  a  conference  of  the  journeymen  with  such  proprietors,  or  their 
authorized  delegates,  with  the  view  of  endeavoring  to  secure  an  increase  of 
the  price  or  diminution  of  the  hours  of  labor.  The  attendants  were  wholly 
unarmed,  and  the  meeting  was  perfectly  peaceable  and  orderly,  and  while  the 
people  were  sitting  quietly,  with  their  backs  toward  the  entrance  hall,  with  a 
few  persons  on  the  stage  in  front  of  them,  and  all  engaged  merely  in  the  busi¬ 
ness  for  which  they  had  assembled,  a  force  of  from  fifteen  to  twenty  policemen 
came  suddenly  into  the  hall,  having  a  policeman’s  club  in  one  hand  and  a 
revolver  in  the  other,  and  making  no  pause  to  determine  the  actual  character 
of  the  meeting,  they  immediately  shouted  :  ‘Get  out  of  here,  you  damned 
sons-of-bitches,’  and  began  beating  the  people  with  their  clubs,  and  some  of 
them  actually  firing  their  revolvers.  One  young  man  was  shot  through  the 
back  of  the  head  and  killed.  But  to  complete  the  atrocity  of  the  affair  on  the 
part  of  the  officers  engaged  in  it,  when  the  people  hastened  to  make  their 
escape  from  the  assembly  room,  they  found  policemen  stationed  on  either  side 
of  the  stairway  leading  from  the  hall  down  to  the  street,  who  applied  their 
clubs  to  them  as  they  passed,  seemingly  with  all  the  violence  practicable 
under  the  circumstances. 

“Mr.  Jacob  Beiersdorf,  who  was  a  manufacturer  of  furniture,  employing 
some  200  men,  had  been  invited  to  the  meeting  and  came,  bur  as  he  was  about 
to  enter  the  place  where  it  was  held,  an  inoffensive  old  man,  doing  nothing 
unlawful,  was  stricken  down  at  his  feet  by  a  policeman’s  club. 

“These  general  facts  were  established  by  an  overwhelming  mass  of  testi¬ 
mony,  and  for  the  purpose  of  the  questions  in  the  case,  it  is  needless  to  go 
farther  into  detail. 

“The  chief  political  right  of  the  citizen  in  our  government,  based  upon 


FOR  PARDONING  FIELDEN,  NEEBE  AND  SCHWAB.  303 

the  popular  will  as  regulated  by  law,  is  the  right  of  suffrage,  but  to  that  right 
two  others  are  auxiliary  and  of  almost  equal  importance : 

“First:  The  right  of  free  speech  and  of  a  free  press. 

“Second :  The  right  of  the  people  to  assemble  in  a  peaceable  manner  to 
consult  for  the  common  good. 

“These  are  among  the  fundamental  principles  of  government  and  guar¬ 
anteed  by  our  constitution.  Section  17,  article  2,  of  the  bill  of  rights,  declares: 
‘The  people  have  a  right  to  assemble  in  a  peaceable  manner  to  consult  for  the 
common  good,  to  make  known  their  opinions  to  their  representatives,  and 
apply  for  redress  of  grievances/  Jurists  do  not  regard  these  declarations  of 
the  bill  of  rights  as  creating  or  conferring  the  rights,  but  as  a  guarantee  against 
their  deprivation  or  infringement  by  any  of  the  powers  or  agencies  of  the  gov¬ 
ernment.  The  rights  themselves  are  regarded  as  the  natural  and  inalienable 
rights  belonging  to  every  individual,  or  as  political,  and  based  upon  or  arising 
from  principles  inherent  in  the  very  nature  of  a  system,  of  free  government. 

“The  right  of  the  people  to  assemble  in  a  peaceable  manner  to  consult  for 
the  common  good,  being  a  constitutional  right,  it  can  be  exercised  and  en¬ 
joyed  within  the  scope  and  the  spirit  of  that  provision  of  the  constitution, 
independently  of  every  other  power  of  the  State  government. 

“Judge  Cooley,  in  his  excellent  work  on  ‘Torts,’  speaking  (p.  296)  of 
remedies  for  the  invasion  of  political  rights,  says :  ‘When  a  meeting  for  any 
lawful  purpose  is  actually  called  and  held,  one  who  goes  there  with  the  pur¬ 
pose  to  disturb  and  break  it  up,  and  commits  disorder  to  that  end,  is  a 
trespasser  upon  the  rights  of  those  who,  for  a  time,  have  control  of  the  place 
of  meeting.  If  several  unite  in  the  disorder  it  may  be  a  criminal  riot.’  ” 

So  much  for  Judge  McAllister. 

Now,  it  is  shown  that  no  attention  was  paid  to  the  judge’s  decision;  that 
peaceable  meetings  were  invaded  and  broken  up,  and  inoffensive  people  were 
clubbed;  that  in  1885  there  was  a  strike  at  the  McCormick  Reaper  Factory, 
on  account  of  a  reduction  of  wages,  and  some  Pinkerton  men,  while  on  their 
way  there,  were  hooted  at  by  some  people  on  the  street,  when  they  fired  into 
the  crowd  and  fatally  wounded  several  people  who  had  taken  no  part  in  any 
disturbance ;  that  four  of  the  Pinkerton  men  were  indicted  for  this  murder  by 
the  grand  jury,  but  that  the  prosecuting  officers  apparently  took  no  interest  in 
the  case,  and  allowed  it  to  be  continued  a  number  of  times,  until  the  witnesses 
were  sworn  out,  and  in  the  end  the  murderers  went  free. 

It  is  shown  that  various  attempts  were  made  to  bring  to  justice  the  men 
who  wore  the  uniform  of  the  law  while  violating  it,  but  all  to  no  avail ;  that  the 
laboring  people  found  the  prisons  always  open  to  receive  them,  but  the  courts 
of  justice  were  practically  closed  to  them;  that  the  prosecuting  officers  vied 
with  each  other  in  hunting  them  down,  but  were  deaf  to  their  appeals ;  that  in 
the  spring  of  1886  there  were  more  labor  disturbances  in  the  city,  and  particu¬ 
larly  at  the  McCormick  factory;  that  under  the  leadership  of  Capt.  Bonfield 


304 


altgeld's  reasons 


the  brutalities  of  the  previous  year  were  even  exceeded.  Some  affidavit  and 
other  evidence  is  offered  on  this  point,  which  I  cannot  give  for  want  of  space. 
It  appears  that  this  was  the  year  of  the  eight  hour  agitation,  and  efforts  were 
made  to  secure  an  eight  hour  day  about  May  i,  and  that  a  number  of  laboring 
men  standing,  not  on  the  street,  but  on  a  vacant  lot,  were  quietly  discussing  the 
situation  in  regard  to  the  movement,  when  suddenly  a  large  body  of  police, 
under  orders  from  Bonfield,  charged  on  them  and  began  to  club  them ;  that 
some  of  the  men,  angered  at  the  unprovoked  assault,  at  first  resisted,  but  were 
soon  dispersed;  that  some  of  the  police  fired  on  the  men  while  they  were  run¬ 
ning  and  wounded  a  large  number  who  were  already  ioo  feet  or  more  away 
and  were  running  as  fast  as  they  could ;  that  at  least  four  of  the  number  so 
shot  down  died ;  that  this  was  wanton  and  unprovoked  murder,  but  there  was 
not  even  so  much  as  an  investigation. 

WAS  IT  AN  ACT  OF  PERSONAL  REVENGE? 

While  some  men  may  tamely  submit  to  being  clubbed  and  seeing  their 
brothers  shot  down,  there  are  some  who  will  resent  it,  and  will  nurture  a 
spirit  of  hatred  and  seek  revenge  for  themselves,  and  the  occurrences  that  pre¬ 
ceded  the  Haymarket  tragedy  indicate  that  the  bomb  was  thrown  by  some  one 
who,  instead  of  acting  on  the  advice  of  anybody,  was  simply  seeking  personal 
revenge  for  having  been  clubbed,  a-nd  that  Capt.  Bonfield  is  the  man  who  is 
really  responsible  for  the  death  of  the  police  officers. 

It  is  also  shown  that  the  character  of  the  Haymarket  meeting  sustains  this 
view.  The  evidence  shows  there  were  only  800  to  1,000  people  present,  and 
that  it  was  a  peaceable  and  orderly  meeting;  that  the  mayor  of  the  city  was 
present  and  saw  nothing  out  of  the  way,  and  that  he  remained  until  the  crowd 
began  to  disperse,  the  meeting  being  practically  over,  and  the  crowd  engaged 
in  dispersing  when  he  left;  that  had  the  police  remained  away  for  twenty 
minutes  more  there  would  have  been  nobody  left  there,  but  as  soon  as  Bonfield 
had  learned  that  the  mayor  had  left,  he  could  not  resist  the  temptation  to 
have  some  more  people  clubbed,  and  went  up  with  a  detachment  of  police  to 
disperse  the  meeting;  and  that  on  the  appearance  of  the  police  the  bomb  was 
thrown  by  some  unknown  person,  and  several  innocent  and  faithful  officers, 
who  were  simply  obeying  an  uncalled  for  order  of  their  superior,  were  killed.  All 
of  these  facts  tend  to  show  the  improbability  of  the  theory  of  the  prosecution 
that  the  bomb  was  thrown  as  a  result  of  a  conspiracy  on  the  part  of  the  defend¬ 
ants  to  commit  murder;  if  the  theory  of  the  prosecution  were  correct,  there 
would  have  been  many  more  bombs  thrown ;  and  the  fact  that  only  one  was 
thrown  shows  that  it  was  an  act  of  personal  revenge. 

It  is  further  shown  here,  that  much  of  the  evidence  given  at  the  trial  was  a 
pure  fabrication ;  that  some  of  the  prominent  police  officials,  in  their  zeal,  not 
only  terrorized  ignorant  men  by  throwing  them  into  prison  and  threatening 
them  with  torture  if  they  refused  to  swear  to  anything  desired,  but  that  they 


Oscar  Neebe, 


FOR  PARDONING  FIELDEN,  NEEBE  AND  SCHWAB.  305 

offered  money  and  employment  to  those  who  would  consent  to  do  this.  Fur¬ 
ther,  that  they  deliberately  planned  to  have  fictitious  conspiracies  formed  in 
order  that  they  might  get  the  glory  of  discovering  them.  In  addition  to  the 
evidence  in  the  record  of  some  witnesses  who  swore  that  they  had  been  paid 
small  sums  of  money,  etc.,  several  documents  are  here  referred  to. 

First,  an  interview  with  Capt.  Ebersold,  published  in  the  Chicago  Daily 
News ,  May  10,  1889. 

CHIEF  OF  POLICE  EBERSOLD’s  STATEMENT. 

Ebersold  was  chief  of  the  police  of  Chicago  at  the  time  of  the  Haymarket 
trouble,  and  for  a  long  time  before  and  thereafter,  so  that  he  was  in  a  position 
to  know  what  was  going  on,  and  his  utterances  upon  this  point  are  therefore 
important.  Among  other  things  he  says : 

“It  was  my  policy  to  quiet  matters  down  as  soon  as  possible  after  the  4th  of 
May.  The  general  unsettled  state  of  things  was  an  injury  to  Chicago. 

“On  the  other  hand,  Capt.  Schaack  wanted  to  keep  things  stirring.  He 
wanted  bombs  to  be  found  here,  there,  all  around,  everywhere.  I  thought 
people  would  lie  down  and  sleep  better  if  they  were  not  afraid  that  their  homes 
would  be  blown  to  pieces  any  minute.  But  this  man  Schaack,  this  little  boy 
who  must  have  glory  or  his  heart  would  be  broken,  wanted  none  of  that  pol¬ 
icy.  Now,  here  is  something  the  public  does  not  know.  After  we  got  the  An¬ 
archist  societies  broken  up,  Schaack  wanted  to  send  out  men  to  again  organize 
new  societies  right  away.  You  see  what  this  would  do.  He  wanted  to  keep 
the  thing  boiling — keep  himself  prominent  before  the  public.  Well,  I  sat 
down  on  that ;  I  didn’t  believe  in  such  work,  and  of  course  Schaack  didn’t 
like  it. 

“After  I  heard  all  that,  I  began  to  think  there  was,  perhaps,  not  so  much  to 
all  this  Anarchist  business  as  they  claimed,  and  I  believe  I  was  right.  Schaack 
thinks  he  knew  all  about  those  Anarchists.  Why,  I  knew  more  at  that  time 
than  he  knows  today  about  them.  I  was  following  them  closely.  As  soon  as 
Schaack  began  to  get  some  notoriety,  however,  he  was  spoiled.” 

This  is  a  most  important  statement,  when  a  chief  of  police,  who  has  been 
watching  the  Anarchists  closely,  says  that  he  was  convinced  that  there  was  not 
so  much  in  all  their  Anarchist  business  as  was  claimed,  and  that  a  police  cap¬ 
tain  wanted  to  send  out  men  to  have  other  conspiracies  formed,  in  order  to  get 
the  credit  of  discovering  them,  and  keep  the  public  excited;  it  throws  a  flood 
of  light  on  the  whole  situation  and  destroys  the  force  of  much  of  the  testimony 
introduced  at  the  trial. 

For,  if  there  has  been  any^such  extensive  conspiracy  as  the  prosecution 
claims,  the  police  would  have  soon  discovered  it.  No  chief  of  police  could  dis¬ 
cover  a  determination  on  the  part  of  an  individual,  or  even  a  number  of  sepa¬ 
rate  individuals,  to  have  personal  revenge  for  having  been  maltreated,  nor  could 
any  chief  discover  a  determination  by  any  such  individual  to  kill  the  next  police- 


3°6 


altgeld's  reasons 


man  who  might  assault  him.  Consequently,  the  fact  that  the  police  did  not 
discover  any  conspiracy  before  the  Haymarket  affair,  shows  almost  conclu¬ 
sively  that  no  such  extensive  combination  could  have  existed. 

*  *  * 

I  will  simply  say  in  conclusion,  on  this  branch  of  the  case,  that  the  facts 
tend  to  show  that  the  bomb  was  thrown  as  an  act  of  personal  revenge,  and  that 
the  prosecution  has  never  discovered  who  threw  it,  and  the  evidence  utterly 
fails  to  show  that  the  man  who  did  throw  it  ever  heard  or  read  a  word  coming 
from  the  defendants ;  consequently  it  fails  to  show  that  he  acted  on  any  advice 
given  by  them.  And  if  he  did  not  act  on  or  hear  any  advice  coming  from  the 
defendants,  either  in  speeches  or  through  the  press,  then  there  was  no  case 
against  them,  even  under  the  law  as  laid  down  by  Judge  Gary. 

FIELDEN  AND  SCHWAB. 

At  the  trial  a  number  of  detectives  and  members  of  the  police  swore  that 
the  defendant,  Fielden,  at  the  Haymarket  meeting,  made  threats  to  kill,  urging 
his  hearers  to  do  their  duty  as  he  would  do  his,  just  as  the  policemen  were 
coming  up ;  and  one  policeman  swears  that  Fielden  drew  a  revolver  and  fired  at 
the  police  while  he  was  standing  on  the  wagon  and  before  the  bomb  was 
thrown,  while  some  of  the  others  testified  that  he  first  climbed  down  off  the 
wagon  and  fired  while  standing  by  a  wheel.  On  the  other  hand,  it  was  proven 
by  a  number  of  witnesses,  and  by  facts  and  circumstances,  that  this  evidence 
must  be  absolutely  untrue.  A  number  of  newspaper  reporters,  who  testified  on 
the  part  of  the  State,  said  that  they  were  standing  near  Fielden — much  nearer 

m 

than  the  police  were — and  heard  all  that  was  said  and  saw  what  was  done ; 
that  they  had  been  sent  there  for  that  purpose,  and  that  Fielden  did  not  make 
any  such  threats  as  the  police  swore  to,  and  that  he  did  not  use  a  revolver.  A 
number  of  other  men  who  were  near,  too,  and  some  of  them  on  the  wagon  on 
which  Fielden  stood  at  the  time,  swear  to  the  same  thing.  Fielden  himself 
swears  that  he  did  not  make  any  such  threats  as  the  police  swore  to,  and  fur¬ 
ther,  that  he  never  had  or  used  a  revolver  in  his  life.  But  if  there  were  any 
doubt  about  the  fact  that  the  evidence  charging  Fielden  with  having  used  a 
revolver  as  unworthy  of  credit,  it  is  removed  by  Judge  Gary  and  State’s  Attor¬ 
ney  Grinnell.  On  November  8,  1887,  when  the  question  of  commuting  the  death 
sentence  as  to  Fielden  was  before  the  governor,  Judge  Gary  wrote  a  long  letter 
in  regard  to  the  case  in  which,  in  speaking  of  Fielden,  he,  among  other  things, 
says:  “There  is  in  the  nature  and  private  character  of  the  man  a  love  of  jus¬ 
tice,  an  impatience  at  undeserved  sufferings.  *  *  *  *  In  his  own  private 
life  he  was  the  honest,  industrious  and  peaceful  laboring  man.  In  what  he 
said  in  court  before  sentence  he  was  respectful  and  decorous.  His  language 
and  conduct  since  have  been  irreproachable.  As  there  is  no  evidence  that  he 
knew  of  any  preparation  to  do  the  specific  act  of  throwing  the  bomb  that  killed 


I 


FOR  PARDONING  FIELDEN,  NEEBE  AND  SCHWAB.  307 

Degan,  he  does  not  understand  even  now  that  general  advice  to  large  masses 
to  do  violence  makes  him  responsible  for  the  violence  done  by  reason  of  that 
advice.  *  *  *  In  short,  he  was  more  a  misguided  enthusiast  than  a 
criminal  conscious  of  the  horrible  nature  and  effect  of  his  teachings  and  of  his 
responsibility  therefor.” 

The  State’s  attorney  appended  the  foregoing  letter,  beginning  as  follows : 
“While  endorsing  and  approving  the  foregoing  statement  by  Judge  Gary,  I 
wish  to  add  thereto  the  suggestion,  *  *  *  that  Schwab’s  conduct  during  the 
trial,  and  when  addressing  the  court  before  sentence,  like  Fielden’s,  was  decor¬ 
ous,  respectful  to  the  law  and  commendable.  *  *  *  It  is  further  my  desire 
to  say  that  I  believe  that  Schwab  was  the  pliant,  weak  tool  of  a  stronger  will 
and  more  designing  persons.  Schwab  seems  to  be  friendless.” 

If  what  Judge  Gary  says  about  Fielden  is  true;  if  Fielden  has  “a  natural 
love  of  justice  and  in  his  private  life  was  the  honest,  industrious  and  peaceable 
laboring  man,”  then  Fielden’s  testimony  is  entitled  to  credit,  and  when  he  says 
that  he  did  not  do  the  things  the  police  charge  him  with  doing,  and  that  he 
never  had  or  used  a  revolver  in  his  life,  it  is  probably  true,  especially  as  he  was 
corroborated  by  a  number  of  creditable  and  disinterested  witnesses. 

Again,  if  Fielden  did  the  things  the  police  charged  him  with  doing,  if  he 
fired  on  them  as  they  swear,  then  he  was  not  a  mere  misguided  enthusiast,  who 
was  to  be  held  only  for  the  consequences  of  his  teachings;  and  if  either  Judge 
Gary  or  State’s  Attorney  Grinnell  had  placed  any  reliance  on  the  evidence  of 
the  police  on  this  point,  they  would  have  written  a  different  kind  of  a  letter  to 
the  then  executive. 

In  the  fall  of  1887,  a  number  of  the  most  prominent  business  men  of  Chi¬ 
cago  met  to  consult  whether  or  not  to  ask  executive  clemency  for  any  of  the 
condemned  men.  Mr.  Grinnell  was  present  and  made  a  speech,  in  which,  in  re¬ 
ferring  to  this  evidence,  he  said  that  he  had  serious  doubts  whether  Fielden 
had  a  revolver  on  that  occasion,  or  whether  indeed  Fielden  ever  had  one. 

Yet,  in  arguing  the  case  before  the  Supreme  Court,  the  previous  spring, 
much  stress  was  placed  by  the  State  on  the  evidence  relating  to  what  Fielden 
did  at  the  Haymarket  meeting,  and  that  court  was  misled  into  attaching  great 
importance  to  it. 

It  is  now  clear  that  there  is  no  case  made  out  against  Fielden  for  anything 
he  did  on  that  night,  and,  as  heretofore  shown,  in  order  to  hold  him  and  the 
other  defendants  for  the  consequences  and  effects  of  having  given  pernicious 
and  criminal  advice  to  large  masses  to  commit  violence,  whether  orally,  in 
speeches,  or  in  print,  it  must  be  shown  that  the  person  committing  the  vio¬ 
lence  had  read  or  heard  the  advice :  for,  until  he  had  heard  or  read  it,  he  did 
not  receive  it  and  if  he  never  received  the  advice,  it  cannot  be  said  that  he 
acted  cn  it. 


3oS 


altgeld’s  reasons 


state’s  attorney  on  neebe’s  innocence. 

IV. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  evidence  for  the  State,  the  Hon.  Carter  H.  Harri- 
son,  then  mayor  of  Chicago,  and  F.  S.  Winston,  then  corporation  counsel  for  Chi¬ 
cago,  were  in  the  court  room  and  had  a  conversation  with  Mr.  Grinnell,  the 
State’s  attorney,  in  regard  to  the  evidence  against  Neebe,  in  which  conversa¬ 
tion,  according  to  Mr.  Harrison  and  Mr.  Winston,  the  State’s  attorney  said 
that  he  did  not  think  he  had  a  case  against  Neebe,  and  that  he  wanted  to  dis¬ 
miss  him,  but  was  dissuaded  from  doing  so  by  his  associate  attorneys,  who 
feared  that  such  a  step  might  influence  the  jury  in  favor  of  the  other  de¬ 
fendants. 

Mr.  Harrison,  in  a  letter  among  other  things,  said :  “I  was  present  in  the 
court  room  when  the  State  closed  its  case.  The  attorney  for  Neebe  moved  his 
discharge  on  the  ground  that  there  was  no  evidence  to  hold  him  on.  The 
State’s  attorney,  Mr.  Julius  S.  Grinnell,  and  Mr.  Fred  S.  Winston,  corporation 
counsel  for  the  city,  and  myself,  were  in  earnest  conversation  when  the  motion 
was  made.  Mr.  Grinnell  stated  to  us  that  he  did  not  think  there  was  sufficient 
testimony  to  convfct  Neebe.  I  thereupon  earnestly  advised  him,  as  the  repre¬ 
sentative  of  the  State,  to  dismiss  the  case  as  to  Neebe,  and,  if  I  remember 
rightly,  he  was  seriously  thinking  of  doing  so,  but,  on  consultation  with  his  as¬ 
sistants,  and  on  their  advice,  he  determined  not  to  do  so,  lest  it  would  have  an 
injurious  effect  on  the  case  as  against  the  other  prisoners.  *  *  *  *  I 
took  the  position  that  such  discharge,  being  clearly  justified  by  the  testimony, 
would  not  prejudice  the  case  as  to  the  others.” 

Mr.  Winston  adds  the  following  to  Mr.  Harrison’s  letter: 

March  21,  1889. 

I  concur  in  the  statement  of  Mr.  Harrison ;  I  never  believed  there  was  suf¬ 
ficient  evidence  to  convict  Mr.  Neebe,  and  so  stated  during  the  trial. 

F.  S.  Winston. 

In  January,  1890,  Mr.  Grinnell  wrote  a  letter  to  Gov.  Fifer,  denying  that 
he  had  ever  made  any  such  statement  as  that  mentioned  by  Mr.  Harrison  and 
Mr.  Winston;  also  that  he  did  believe  Neebe  guilty;  that  Mr.  Harrison  sug¬ 
gested  the  dismissal  of  the  case  as  to  Neebe;  and  further,  that  he  would  not 
have  been  surprised  if  Mr.  Harrison  had  made  a  similar  suggestion  as  to 
others,  and  then  he  says :  “I  said  to  Mr.  Harrison  at  that  time,  substantially, 
that  I  was  afraid  that  the  jury  might  not  think  the  testimony  presented  in  the 
case  sufficient  to  convict  Neebe,  but  that  it  was  in  their  province  to  pass 
upon  it.” 

Now,  if  the  statement  of  Messrs.  Harrison  and  Winston  is  true,  then  Grin¬ 
nell  should  not  have  allowed  Neebe  to  be  sent  to  the  penitentiary,  and  even  if 
we  assume  that  both  Mr.  Harrison  and  Mr.  Winston  are  mistaken,  and  that 
Mr.  Grinnell  simply  used  the  language  he  now  says  he  used,  then  the  case 


FOR  PARDONING  FIELDEN,  NEEBE  AND  SCHWAB. 


309 


must  have  seemed  very  weak  to  him.  If,  with  a  jury  prejudiced  to  start  with, 
a  judge  pressing  for  conviction,  and  amid  the  almost  irresistible  fury  with 
which  the  trial  was  conducted,  he  still  was  afraid  the  jury  might  not  think 
the  testimony  in  the  case  was  sufficient  to  convict  Neebe,  then  the  testimony 
must  have  seemed  very  weak  to  him,  no  matter  what  he  may  now  protest 
about  it. 

When  the  motion  to  dismiss  the  case  as  to  Neebe  was  made,  defendants’ 
counsel  asked  that  the  jury  might  be  permitted  to  retire  while  the  motion  was 
being  argued,  but  the  court  refused  to  permit  this,  and  kept  the  jury  present 
where  it  could  hear  all  that  the  court  had  to  say ;  then  when  the  argument  on 
the  motion  was  begun  by  defendants’  counsel,  the  court  did  not  wait  to  hear 
from  the  attorneys  for  the  State,  but  at  once  proceeded  to  argue  the  points 
itself  with  the  attorneys  for  the  defendants,  so  that  while  the  attorney  for  the 
State  made  no  argument  on  the  motion,  twenty-five  pages  of  the  record  are 
filled  with  the  colloquy  or  sparring  that  took  place  between  the  court  and  the 
counsel  for  the  defendants,  the  court  in  the  presence  of  the  jury  making  insin¬ 
uations  as  to  what  inference  might  be  drawn  by  the  jury  from  the  fact  that 
Neebe  owned  a  little  stock  in  a  paper  called  the  Arbeiter-Zeitung  and  had 
been  seen  there,  although  he  took  no  part  in  the  management  until  after  the 
Haymarket  troubles,  it  appearing  that  the  Arbeiter-Zeitung  had  published 
some  very  seditious  articles,  with  which,  however,  Neebe  had  nothing  to  do. 
Finally  one  of  the  counsel  for  the  defendants  said :  “I  expected  that  the  rep¬ 
resentatives  of  the  State  might  say  something,  but  as  your  honor  saves  them 
that  trouble,  you  will  excuse  me  if  I  reply  briefly  to  the  suggestions  you  have 
made.”  Some  other  remarks  were  made  by  the  court,  seriously  affecting  the 
whole  case  and  prejudicial  to  the  defendants,  and  then  referring  to  Neebe,  the 
court  said : 

“Whether  he  had  anything  to  do  with  the  dissemination  of  advice  to  com¬ 
mit  murder  is,  I  think,  a  debatable  question  which  the  jury  ought  to  pass  on.” 
Finally  the  motion  was  overruled.  Now,  with  all  the  eagerness  shown  by  the 
court  to  convict  Neebe,  it  must  have  regarded  the  evidence  against  him  as 
very  weak,  otherwise  it  would  not  have  made  this  admission,  for  if  it  was  a 
debatable  question  whether  the  evidence  tended  to  show  guilt,  then  that  evi¬ 
dence  must  have  been  far  from  being  conclusive  upon  the  question  as  to 
whether  he  was  actually  guilty;  this  being  so,  the  verdict  should  not  have  been 
allowed  to  stand,  because  the  law  requires  that  a  man  shall  be  proven  to  be 
guilty  beyond  a  reasonable  doubt  before  he  can  be  convicted  of  criminal  of¬ 
fense.  I  have  examined  all  of  the  evidence  against  Neebe  with  care,  and  it  ut¬ 
terly  fails  to  prove  even  the  shadow  of  a  case  against  him.  Some  of  the  other 
defendants  were  guilty  of  using  seditious  language,  but  even  this  cannot  be 
said  of  Neebe. 


3io 


ALTGELD's  REASONS 

PREJUDICE  OR  SUBSERVIENCY  OF  JUDGE, 

V. 

It  is  further  charged,  with  much  bitterness,  by  those  who  speak  for  the  pris¬ 
oners,  that  the  record  of  this  case  shows  that  the  judge  conducted  the  trial 
with  malicious  ferocity,  and  forced  eight  men  to  be  tried  together;  that  in 
cross-examining  the  State’s  witnesses,  he  confined  counsel  to  the  specific  points 
touched  on  by  the  State,  while  in  the  cross-examination  of  the  defendants’ 
witnesses  he  permitted  the  State’s  Attorney  to  go  into  all  manner  of  subjects 
entirely  foreign  to  the  matters  on  which  the  witnesses  were  examined  in  chief ; 
also,  that  every  ruling  throughout  the  long  trial  on  any  contested  point,  was 
in  favor  of  the  State ;  and  further,  that  page  after  page  of  the  record  contains 
insinuating  remarks  of  the  judge,  made  in  the  hearing  of  the  jury,  and  with 
the  evident  intent  of  bringing  the  jury  to  his  way  of  thinking;  that  these 
speeches,  coming  from  the  court,  were  much  more  damaging  than  any  speeches 
from  the  State’s  Attorney  could  possibly  have  been;  that  the  State’s  Attorney 
often  took  his  cue  from  the  judge’s  remarks;  that  the  judge’s  magazine  article 
recently  published,  although  written  nearly  six  years  after  the  trial,  is  yet  full 
of  venom ;  that,  pretending  to  simply  review  the  case,  he  had  to  drag  into  his 
article  a  letter  written  by  an  excited  woman  to  a  newspaper  after  the  trial  was 
over,  and  which  therefore  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  case,  and  was  put  into 
the  article  simply  to  create  a  prejudice  against  the  woman,  as  well  as  against 
the  dead  and  the  living;  and  that,  not  content  with  this,  he,  in  the  same  article, 
makes  an  insinuating  attack  on  one  of  the  lawyers  for  the  defense,  not  for  any¬ 
thing  done  at  the  trial,  but  because  more  than  a  year  after  the  trial,  when 
some  of  the  defendants  had  been  hung,  he  ventured  to  express  a  few  kind,  if 
erroneous,  sentiments  over  the  graves  of  his  dead  clients,  whom  he  at  least  be¬ 
lieved  to  be  innocent.  It  is  urged  that  such  ferocity  of  subserviency  is  with¬ 
out  a  parallel  in  all  history;  that  even  Jeffries  in  England,  contented  himself 
with  hanging  his  victims,  and  did  not  stoop  to  berate  them  after  death. 

These  charges  are  of  a  personal  character,  and  while  they  seem  to  be  sus¬ 
tained  by  the  record  of  the  trial  and  the  papers  before  me,  and  tend  to  show 
the  trial  was  not  fair,  I  do  not  care  to  discuss  this  feature  of  the  case  any  far¬ 
ther,  because  it  is  not  necessary.  I  am  convinced  that  it  is  clearly  my  duty 
to  act  in  this  case  for  the  reasons  already  given,  and  I,  therefore,  grant  an 
absolute  pardon  to  Samuel  Fielden,  Oscar  Neebe,  and  Michael  Schwab,  this 
26th  day  of  June,  1893.  John  P.  Altgeld. 

Governor  of  Illinois. 


Monument  erected  in  Waldheim  Cemetery  to  Our  Martyred  Comrades,  Albert  Richard  Tar- 
sons,  August  Spies,  George  Engel,  Adolph  Fischer  and  Louis  Lingg. 


BACK  YJEW. 


' 


» 


. 


1 


PRESS  COMMENTS. 


gen.  m.  m.  trumbull's  review  in  the  "knights  of  labor/' 

i  will  be  difficult  to  get  this  book  into  circulation,  and  more  difficult  still 
U  get  it  out  of  circulation.  The  “classes”  will  ignore  it.  It  must  depend  for 
i  s  existence  on  its  own  fascination  as  “a  weird  and  wondrous  tale.”  It  will 
grow  slowly,  but  it  will  live  long.  It  is  the  prose  epic  of  the  great  struggle  for 
labor  emancipation.  Some  day  it  will  be  the  “Uncle  Tom’s  Cabin”  of  a  new 
deliverance. 

This  “Life  of  Albert  R.  Parsons”  will  not  be  a  welcome  book,  because  it 
ruffles  and  disturbs  the  conscience  of  “society.”  It  reviews  the  “Anarchist 
case,”  legally  and  officially  settled  on  the  nth  of  November,  1887.  This  book 
will  not  be  welcome,  because  it  is  a  posthumous  motion  to  reverse  a  judgment 
executed  and  done — a  motion  made  by  the  spirit  of  Parsons,  who  was  ex¬ 
cluded  from  politics  a  year  and  a  half  ago.  This  book  is  a  strange  medley  of 
biography,  autobiography,  history,  opinions,  letters  and  miscellaneous  matter, 
by,  of,  and  concerning  Albert  R.  Parsons,  and  the  “labor  movement.”  Every 
chapter  has  an  independent  interest  of  its  own,  and  some  chapters  weave  a 
sympathetic  spell  around  the  reader’s  heart  in  spite  of  him.  There  is  a  charm 
in  chivalry  which  excites  our  admiration ;  and  there  has  not  appeared  of  late  a 
tale  of  chivalry  told  with  such  overpowering  pathos  as  the  story  of  Parsons  is 
told  in  this  book. 

Of  New  England  lineage,  Albert  R.  Parsons  was  a  Puritan  fanatic  in  zeal, 
courage,  and  enthusiasm,  spirituality,  and  tenacity  of  principle  and  purpose. 
Neither  the  gloom  of  the  cell  nor  the  shadow  of  the  scaffold  could  break  or 
bend  him.  His  iron  Puritanism  had  been  hardened  into  steel  by  his  Southern 
birth  and  education.  He  would  not  for  his  life  tell  a  lie,  even  to  himself.  His 
life  was  offered  him  for  the  asking,  but  he  said  he  could  not  ask  for  that 
which  he  had  not  forfeited.  From  that  resolution  neither  friends  nor  foes 
could  move  him.  Never  did  Scott  or  Shakespeare  imagine  a  deed  of  chivalry 
more  splendid  than  that  actually  done  by  Parsons  when  he  walked  into  the 
court-room  and  offered  himself  for  trial.  Neither  could  novelist  nor  drama¬ 
tist  describe  that  heroic  incident  so  vividly  as  it  is  presented  in  this  biography. 
Self-devotion  compels  praise,  and  we  cannot  withhold  it.  This  life-offering  will 
take  its  place  among  the  brave  deeds  told  in  story  for  the  emulation  of  man¬ 
kind. 

The  tragedies  of  May  and  November  combine  to  give  this  biography  dra¬ 
matic  interest.  They  make  it  a  theatrical  attraction,  and  the  story  magnetizes 


311 


312 


PRESS  COMMENTS. 


like  the  tale  of  “The  Ancient  Mariner.”  The  contrast  between  the  realities 
which  made  up  the  destiny  of  Parsons,  and  the  utopian  idealities  he  wor¬ 
shiped  is  so  palpable  and  romantic  that  his  adventures  fascinate  the  reader, 
like  the  adventures  of  Robinson  Crusoe.  The  right  or  wrong  of  his  opinions 
and  his  plans  of  change  will  be  overshadowed  by  the  interest  attaching  to  the 
personality,  the  actions,  the  motives,  the  fortunes  and  the  fate  of  Parsons 
These  will  give  the  book  vitality.  That  Parsons  was  innocent  of  the  crime  for 
which  he  was  condemned  is  not  seriously  disputed  now.  Parsons  was  a  man 
of  genius,  gracefully  eloquent  in  speech.  In  literary  taste  and  elegance  of  dic¬ 
tion  his  addresses  were  far  above  the  average  grade  of  popular  oratory.  His 
voice  was  musical  and  of  great  magnetic  power.  He  was  a  picturesque  speci¬ 
men  of  that  much-quoted  product  known  as  the  “Typical  American.”  Of 
Revolution  and  Mayflower  stock,  he  was  thoroughly  American  by  blood  and 
character.  He  was  refined  in  dress  and  manner,  well  knit  together,  of  graceful 
form  and  feature.  He  had  great  muscular  activity,  exuberant  spirits,  delicate, 
clear-cut  features,  and  very  brilliant  eyes.  There  was  not  a  sign  of  grossness 
in  his  form,  face,  or  complexion,  and  there  was  a  spirituality  in  his  look  that 
revealed  a  temperament  of  poetry  and  dream.  His  life  was  a  conflict,  and  the 
end  of  it  for  him  was  rest. 


The  Non-Conformist  concludes  a  flattering  review  of  the  book  thus: 

“Talk  of  your  Robert  Emmet,  your  Saul  of  Tarsus,  the  heroes  of  the 
French  Revolution,  our  own  honored  John  Brown;  but  gaze  at  the  awfully 
sublime  heroism  of  this  man,  who,  with  an  instinct  born  only  of  true  man¬ 
hood,  comes  of  his  own  free  will  to  the  bar  of  (in-)justice  and,  to  satisfy  the 
hungry  yells  of  an  infuriated  aristocracy,  gives  himself  up  to  be  tried;  he  is 
incarcerated,  listens  to  the  perjured  testimony  of  the  paid  assassins,  to  the 
pleading  before  the  court,  and  then,  after  proving  himself  clear  of  any  connec¬ 
tion  whatever,  to  stand  up  and  be  condemned  to  death — for  what?  For  hold¬ 
ing  opinions  regarding  a  system  of  society  that  he  believed  to  be  an  improve¬ 
ment  over  the  systems  that  now  tyrannize  the  people  of  the  earth.” 

$ 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  books  of  this  century  has  just  been  issued  from 
the  press  at  Chicago.  It  is  the  “Life  of  Albert  R.  Parsons,”  and  it  is  one 
which  will  attract  unusual  attention.  Men  may  be  divided  in  their  opinions  as 
to  the  final  outcome  of  the  great  labor  agitation,  which  in  one  form  or  another 
is  now  shaking  the  thrones  and  governments  of  the  world,  *  *  *  but  no 

one  can  comprehend  the  political  economy  of  the  industrial  system  of  the  nine¬ 
teenth  century  without  first  understanding,  the  poverty,  the  misery,  the  de¬ 
grading  of  mankind  to  the  level  of  the  brute.  *  *  *  *  Mrs.  Parsons  has 
done  her  work  well.  The  motive  that  has  prompted  her  to  attempt  the  task 
appeals  to  every  wife-heart. — Mt.  Vernon  Progressive  Farmer. 


PRESS  COMMENTS. 


313 


what  a  well-known  writer  on  political  economy  has  to  say. 

Minneapolis,  Minn.,  April  9,  1889. 

My  Dear  Mrs.  Parsons:  I  have  read  your  “Life  of  Albert  R.  Parsons” 
with  an  interest  that  increased  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  volume. 
It  has  corrected  some  false  impressions  that  I  had  in  regard  to  Mr.  Parsons’ 
supposed  responsibility  for  the  throwing  of  that  fatal  bomb.  I  had  never 
thought  that  that  occurrence  was  the  result  of  an  actual  conspiracy  on  the 
part  of  those  who  called  the  Haymarket  meeting,  deliberately  planned  as  a 
part  of  the  demonstration  should  circumstance  favor  it  but  I  confess  that  I 
did  think  until  the  reading  of  this  book  that  it  was  a  natural  consequence  of 
your  husband’s  teachings.  I  am  glad  to  acknowledge  that  I  now  believe  I  was 
mistaken.  At  a  public  meeting  in  Minneapolis,  on  November  nth  last,  I 
thought  it  my  duty  to  protest  against  a  resolution  denouncing  the  execution 
of  your  husband  and  his  fellow-sufferers  as  a  “judicial  murder.”  Should  such 
a  resolution  be  again  offered  in  my  presence  you  may  depend  that  I  shall  not 
make  the  same  mistake,  but  shall,  instead,  give  it  my  support.  It  seems  to  me 
that  every  one  with  the  same  prejudices  that  I  had,  who  reads  your  book, 
must  reach  the  same  conclusion,  and  on  this  account,  if  for  no  other  reason,  I 
earnestly  hope  that  it  will  be  widely  read  by  all  persons  who  are  honest 
enough  to  wish  to  be  just.  But,  although  I  have  erroneously  thought  Albert 
R.  Parsons  criminally  responsible  for  public  utterances  calculated  and  intended 
to  incite  to  deeds  of  violence  simple-minded  men  engaged  in  strikes  and  there¬ 
by  already  excited  by  their  sufferings  and  wrongs,  I  have  never  doubted  his 
honesty  of  purpose  or  his  loyalty  to  his  own  convictions  of  duty.  Therefore  I 
have  revered  him  as  a  martyr ;  and  his  voluntary  surrender  in  order  to  share 
the  fate  of  his  comrades,  his  dignified  conduct  during  the  memorable  trial,  and 
the  sublime  heroism  of  his  death,  place  him,  in  my  mind,  among  the  noblest  of 
that  highest  aristocracy  of  human  nature — the  “noble  army  of  martyrs.”  This 
is  irrespective  altogether  of  the  rightfulness  or  wrongfulness  of  the  cause  for 
which  he  died.  His  children  need  never  be  ashamed  of  their  father’s  life,  and 
they  ought  to  be  proud  of  his  glorious  death.  And  as  for  you,  his  wife,  his 
companion,  and  comrade,  I  do  not  wonder  at  your  devotion  to  his  memory  and 
to  the  cause  he  so  earnestly  and  ably  espoused. 

Respectfully  yours, 

W.  G.  H.  SMART. 

SOME  OF  THE  NUMEROUS  COMMENTS  OF  THE  PRESS. 

The  “Life  of  Albert  R.  Parsons,”  published  by  Mrs.  Lucy  E.  Parsons,  his 
widow,  is  just  from  the  press,  and  furnishes  the  reading  world  a  volume  full 
of  interesting  narrative,  and  material  matter  for  thought.  The  mere  story  of 
Parsons’  life  is  a  stirring  tale,  and  the  problems  presented  in  his  sayings  and 
doings,  and  especially  in  his  death,  are  worthy  any  man’s  considerations.  *  *  * 


3r4 


PRESS  COMMENTS. 


The  purpose  of  the  publication  is  announced  in  the  following  strong  and  im¬ 
pressive  “author’s  note,”  written  by  Mrs.  Parsons : 

“In  preparing  the  ‘Life  of  Albert  R.  Parsons’  for  publication  I  have  been 
actuated  by  one  desire  alone,  viz. :  that  I  might  demonstrate  to  every  one,  the 
most  prejudiced  as  well  as  the  most  liberal  minds:  First,  that  my  husband 
was  no  aider,  nor  abettor,  nor  counsellor,  of  crime  in  any  sense.  Second  that 
he  knew  nothing  of  nor  had  anything  to  do  with  the  preparation  for  the  Hay- 
market  meeting,  and  that  the  Haymarket  meeting  was  intended  to  be  peaceable 
and  was  peaceable  until  interfered  with  by  the  police.  Third,  that  Mr.  Parson^’ 
connection  with  the  labor  movement  was  purely  and  simply  for  the  purpose  of 
bettering  the  condition  of  his  fellow-men ;  that  he  gave  his  time,  talents,  and  at 
last  his  life  to  this  cause. 

“In  order  to  make  these  facts  undeniable  I  obtained  articles  from  persons 
holding  avowedly  adverse  views  to  his,  but  who  were  nevertheless  willing  to 
testify  to  his  innocence  of  the  crime  for  which  he  suffered  death  and  to  his 
sterling  integrity  as  a  man. 

“It  has  been  the  endeavor  of  the  author  to  make  the  present  wofk  not  only 
biographical  but  historical — a  work  which  might  be  relied  upon  as  an  authority 
by  all  future  writers  upon  the  matters  contained  in  it.  Hence  nothing  has  been 
admitted  to  its  pages  that  is  not  absolutely  correct,  so  far  as  it  was  possible  for 
me  to  verify  it  by  close  scrutiny  of  all  matters  treated.  And  for  this  reason  I 
ask  the  public  to  read  its  pages  carefully,  for  in  this  way  they  will  become 
acquainted  with  the  inmost  thoughts  of  one  of  the  noblest  characters  of  which 
history  bears  record.” 

The  book  is  well  illustrated,  handsomely  printed,  and  nicely  bound. — Chi¬ 
cago  Times. 

There  is  comparatively  little  that  is  trashy  in  the  book,  and  such  as  believe 
Anarchism  a  living  issue  in  America  will  undoubtedly  find  in  it  considerable  of 
interest. — Chicago  Tribune. 

Mrs.  Parsons’  work  has  been  mainly  that  of  a  compiler;  but  she  has  per¬ 
formed  her  task  carefully  and  intelligently. — Chicago  News. 

The  typographical  appearance  of  the  book  is  fine. — Chicago  Herald. 

Much  that  is  best  in  the  volume  is  selected  from  Mr.  Parsons’  own  letters 
and  editorials.  The  “Statesman”  can  commend  the  book  to  those  who  are 
familiar  with  only  the  other  side  of  this  great  tragedy,  as  a  fair  presentation 
of  the  side  yet  unexamined  by  them. — Statesman  {Magazine),  Chicago. 

More  than  half  of  the  book  is  justly  occupied  with  the  details  of  the  Hay- 
market  incident,  from  the  beginning  of  the  eight-hour  movement  in  the  spring 
of  1886  to  the  death  of  the  subject  of  the  biography,  in  the  fall  of  1887.  This 
includes  the  Haymarket  meeting  and  Parsons’  speech  in  remonstrance  to  the 
sentence  of  death.  The  methods  of  the  authorities  in  collecting  the  evidence  is 
bitterly  denounced,  and  every  argument  is  adduced  to  fix  the  stigma  of  cor- 


PRESS  COMMENTS. 


315 


ruption  upon  the  performances  of  the  police  and  judiciary,  and  establish  the 
wrongfulness  of  the  sentence.  Then,  accepting  the  hypothesis  of  the  truth  and 
reason  or  the  evidence;  the  entire  theory  that  Parsons’  accessoriness  or  that  of 
his  fellow  defendants  is  attacked,  and  the  Hon.  Leonard  Swett  is  copiously 
quoted  in  support  of  the  position. — Chicago  Sentinel. 

This  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  books  ever  printed  in  America;  it  is  a 
labor  of  love  and  memoir,  compiled  and  published  in  poverty  and  privation,  by 
the  devoted  wife  of  a  martyr  *  *  *  in  a  cause  which  both  husband  and 

wife  believed  the  cause  of  humanity. — Woman’s  Journal,  Boston. 

HIS  WISH. 

“Have  I  one  more  wish?”  said  Parsons,  with  that  familiar  dash  in  his  eyes, 
when,  a  few  days  before  that  black  Friday,  I  called  to  bid  him  farewell.  “Oh, 
yes,  1  have  more  than  one.  Never  tire  in  advocating  our  high  principles,  in  the 
warfare  between  cowardice  and  tyranny;  never  cease  until  the  American 
people  know  why  we  are  murdered,  and  the  class  fanaticism  characterizing  our 
condemnation  is  understood.” — ( Extract  from  Editorial  in  Alarm.) 


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